Socio-economic statistics for Bow, Tower Hamlets

Is Bow in Tower Hamlets a nice place to live or is it a bit rough? We have collated a series of socio-economic statistics and demographics from UK government sources such as the 2021 Census and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. They should give you a broad snapshot of the area and the surrounding locations. Are the residents of Bow older than the national average or younger? What is the population of Bow and Tower Hamlets? What is the claimant count in Bow and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

How many residents own or rent their home in Bow and Tower Hamlets

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Bow either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 17.58 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 82.42 of Bow residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
St Dunstan's	17.58%	82.42%
Tower Hamlets	23.13%	76.87%
London	45.23%	54.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bow has a significantly lower level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically deprived area.

Bow compared to other wards in Tower Hamlets

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	St Katharine's & Wapping	35.05%	64.95%
2	Limehouse	33.21%	66.79%
3	Bow West	31.58%	68.42%
4	Island Gardens	29.03%	70.97%
5	Bow East	28.16%	71.84%
6	Blackwall & Cubitt Town	23.78%	76.22%
7	Bethnal Green	23.2%	76.8%
8	Mile End (Tower Hamlets)	22.26%	77.74%
9	Weavers	22.22%	77.78%
10	Bromley North	21.42%	78.58%
11	St Peter's (Tower Hamlets)	21.35%	78.65%
12	Canary Wharf	20.96%	79.04%
13	Stepney Green	20.87%	79.13%
14	Spitalfields & Banglatown	20.76%	79.24%
15	Bromley South	19.83%	80.17%
16	Lansbury	19.78%	80.22%
17	Shadwell	17.88%	82.12%
18	Poplar (Tower Hamlets)	17.83%	82.17%
19	St Dunstan's	17.58%	82.42%
20	Whitechapel	16.63%	83.37%

Bow is ranked 19 out of 20 wards in Tower Hamlets for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bow Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Bow residents have in terms of formal qualifications as a percentage. The UK government breaks qualifications down into 7 levels. A detailed explanation of these levels can be found here. However, the Census groups these into just 4 \'levels\'. Here are some examples of the qualifications each census level represents when not stated;

Level 1 - GCSE grades D, E, F, or G & below
Level 2 - GCSE A*, A, B, C or O Level grades A, B or C
Level 3 - A or AS qualification at any grade
Level 4 - HNC, Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree or Phd

In this first table we have compared Bow to the national average for England.

Level	St Dunstan's	England
No Qualifications	21.5%	18.08%
Level 1	8.07%	9.69%
Level 2	10.28%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	2.42%	5.32%
Level 3	14.76%	16.92%
Level 4	39.73%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Bow?

The largest employment sector in Bow is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Skilled Trades.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	27.47%
Associate Professional & Technical	16.16%
Elementary Occupations	9.87%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	9.61%
Administrative & Secretarial	8.29%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.39%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.35%
Skilled Trades	5.86%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Bow Health Statistics

St Dunstan's has more residents (very_good_pc-$country_health->very_good_pc, 2)%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
St Dunstan's	49.28%	32.86%	11.01%	4.86%	2%
Tower Hamlets	52.97%	32.13%	10.05%	3.6%	1.26%
London	53.55%	31.85%	10.33%	3.23%	1.05%
England	48.49%	33.71%	12.65%	3.98%	1.17%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How has the health of residents in Tower Hamlets changed since 2011?

Tower Hamlets residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 1.79% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	50.56%	32.75%	10.65%	4.42%	1.62%
2021	52.97%	32.13%	10.05%	3.6%	1.26%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bow & Tower Hamlets Immigration Statistics

We have analysed the Census 2021 raw data on country of birth and compiled immigration statistics as percentages of the population. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. Below are the figures for Bow in the Tower Hamlets local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
St Dunstan's	57.7%	42.3%
Tower Hamlets	53.2%	46.8%
London	59.37%	40.63%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bow compared to other wards in Tower Hamlets

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Canary Wharf	39.06%	60.94%
2	Blackwall & Cubitt Town	43.31%	56.69%
3	Whitechapel	44.77%	55.23%
4	Spitalfields & Banglatown	46.86%	53.14%
5	Limehouse	49.01%	50.99%
6	Island Gardens	51.05%	48.95%
7	Poplar	51.54%	48.46%
8	St Katharine's & Wapping	52.92%	47.08%
9	Shadwell	52.99%	47.01%
10	Lansbury	54.48%	45.52%
11	Mile End	54.9%	45.1%
12	Bromley South	54.97%	45.03%
13	Stepney Green	55.02%	44.98%
14	St Peter's	56.05%	43.95%
15	Bromley North	56.16%	43.84%
16	Weavers	56.44%	43.56%
17	St Dunstan's	57.7%	42.3%
18	Bethnal Green	58.28%	41.72%
19	Bow East	63.93%	36.08%
20	Bow West	64.84%	35.16%

';Bow is ranked 17 out of 20 wards in Tower Hamlets for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bow Unemployment Statistics

Since the introduction of Universal Credit, The Department for Work & Pensions have not issued any statistics (in our view) that can be used to ascertain the levels of unemployment or under employment in the UK, just meaningless geographic counts. However, the Office of National Statistics does publish claimant counts of people receiving out of work benefits, be that legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit as a proportion of people over 16. These figures are usually updated once a month and are for Local Authority Districts and Unitary Authority Districts. So below are the figures of Tower Hamlets.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Tower Hamlets	5.2%	-0.8%
London	4.8%	-0.4%
England	3.8%	-0.3%
UK	3.7%	-0.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Last Retrieved: March 2023

The 2021 census had data on people who were economically active (seeking work) yet unemployed on Census day (Sunday March 21st 2021). These statitics do cover Bow on a ward level. However, it has to be noted that the Census day was during the height of the Covid19 pandemic and therefore are not reflective of normal levels of unemployment. For example, between March 2020 and June 2020 people claiming Universal Credit doubled in most areas of the United Kingdom and then steadily declined up to the day of the Census and beyond. This data also contains the proportion of people in part-time work (working between 1-35 hours per week), which maybe an indicator of under employment in Bow.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	50.53%
In Part-Time Work	28.96%
Unemployed	8.86%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

71.04% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Bow

Bow Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in St Dunstan's.

Age Band	Proportion
4 & under
5 - 9 years
10 - 15 years
16 - 19 years
20 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 49 years
50 - 64 years
65 - 74 years
75 - 84 years
85 years & over

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Bow and Tower Hamlets?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Tower Hamlets including Bow. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Bethnal Green	23349
Blackwall & Cubitt Town	22369
Bow East	20622
Bow West	14609
Bromley North	10714
Bromley South	14960
Canary Wharf	19454
Island Gardens	17572
Lansbury	19103
Limehouse	7817
Mile End	23853
Poplar	7931
Shadwell	15009
Spitalfields & Banglatown	14932
St Dunstan's	14577
St Katharine's & Wapping	13425
St Peter's	22211
Stepney Green	12980
Weavers	15389
Whitechapel	21093
Tower Hamlets Total	331969

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Last updated: 20/02/2024, Additional Sources: Office for National Statistics & Department for Work & Pensions.

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