Socio-economic statistics for Shirkoak, Kent

Is Shirkoak in Ashford 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 Shirkoak older than the national average or younger? What is the population of Shirkoak and Ashford? What is the claimant count in Shirkoak and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

Shirkoak Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Shirkoak 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 Shirkoak to the national average for England.

Level	Weald South	England
No Qualifications	19.83%	18.08%
Level 1	10.54%	9.69%
Level 2	14.06%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.09%	5.32%
Level 3	16.19%	16.92%
Level 4	28.88%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shirkoak Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in Weald South.

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)

Shirkoak 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 Ashford.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Ashford	3%	-0.5%
South East	2.9%	-0.3%
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 Shirkoak 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 Shirkoak.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	50.1%
In Part-Time Work	30.41%
Unemployed	3.72%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

69.59% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Shirkoak

How many residents own or rent their home in Shirkoak and Ashford

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Shirkoak either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 78.84 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 21.16 of Shirkoak residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Weald South	78.84%	21.16%
Ashford	66.43%	33.57%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shirkoak has a significantly higher level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically wealthy area.

Shirkoak compared to other wards in Ashford

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Kennington (Ashford)	87.74%	12.26%
2	Downs West	85.8%	14.2%
3	Highfield (Ashford)	83.1%	16.9%
4	Godinton	80.29%	19.71%
5	Bircholt	80.1%	19.9%
6	Biddenden	79.16%	20.84%
7	Weald South	78.84%	21.16%
8	Tenterden St Michael's	78.42%	21.58%
9	Saxon Shore	78.38%	21.62%
10	Park Farm North	78.16%	21.84%
11	Kingsnorth Village & Bridgefield	77.73%	22.27%
12	Weald North	76.87%	23.13%
13	Downs North	73.53%	26.47%
14	Bybrook	73.11%	26.89%
15	Weald Central	73.05%	26.95%
16	Roman (Ashford)	71.89%	28.12%
17	Charing	71.57%	28.43%
18	Isle of Oxney	71.49%	28.51%
19	Rolvenden & Tenterden West	71.09%	28.91%
20	Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry	71%	29%
21	Willesborough	70.54%	29.46%
22	Tenterden North	70.45%	29.55%
23	Upper Weald	69.52%	30.48%
24	Park Farm South	68.05%	31.95%
25	Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm	68.02%	31.98%
26	Singleton West	66.84%	33.16%
27	Tenterden South	66.51%	33.49%
28	Washford	66.12%	33.88%
29	Singleton East	65%	35%
30	Goat Lees	63.27%	36.73%
31	Wye with Hinxhill	63.17%	36.83%
32	Bockhanger	59.8%	40.2%
33	Repton (Ashford)	59.38%	40.62%
34	Furley	59.38%	40.62%
35	Norman	51.23%	48.77%
36	Beaver	50.75%	49.25%
37	Aylesford & East Stour	47%	53%
38	Victoria (Ashford)	42.72%	57.28%
39	Stanhope	35.62%	64.38%

Shirkoak is ranked 7 out of 39 wards in Ashford for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shirkoak Health Statistics

Weald South has a lower proportion of residents (very_good_pc-$ward_health->very_good_pc, 2)%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Weald South	45.38%	34.36%	15.35%	3.76%	1.15%
Ashford	48.46%	34.49%	12.47%	3.58%	1.01%
South East	49.98%	34.01%	11.77%	3.31%	0.93%
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 Ashford changed since 2011?

Ashford residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.28% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	47.58%	35.09%	12.74%	3.53%	1.06%
2021	48.46%	34.49%	12.47%	3.58%	1.01%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shirkoak & Ashford 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 Shirkoak in the Ashford local area district.

Shirkoak has a lower rate of immigrants than Ashford, the South East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Weald South	94.31%	5.69%
Ashford	86.59%	13.41%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shirkoak compared to other wards in Ashford

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Victoria	72.56%	27.44%
2	Beaver	76.7%	23.3%
3	Stanhope	77.64%	22.36%
4	Furley	77.83%	22.17%
5	Repton	79.05%	20.95%
6	Norman	80.41%	19.59%
7	Aylesford & East Stour	81.06%	18.94%
8	Godinton	82.53%	17.47%
9	Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm	82.84%	17.16%
10	Highfield	85.04%	14.96%
11	Park Farm North	85.16%	14.84%
12	Park Farm South	85.91%	14.09%
13	Willesborough	86.66%	13.34%
14	Goat Lees	86.71%	13.29%
15	Singleton East	87.22%	12.78%
16	Singleton West	87.69%	12.31%
17	Roman	87.74%	12.26%
18	Washford	88.46%	11.54%
19	Bockhanger	88.55%	11.45%
20	Bybrook	88.92%	11.08%
21	Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry	89%	11%
22	Wye with Hinxhill	89.58%	10.42%
23	Kingsnorth Village & Bridgefield	89.84%	10.16%
24	Downs North	91.43%	8.57%
25	Kennington	91.57%	8.43%
26	Tenterden North	92.09%	7.91%
27	Downs West	92.76%	7.24%
28	Biddenden	93.53%	6.47%
29	Rolvenden & Tenterden West	93.59%	6.41%
30	Saxon Shore	93.65%	6.35%
31	Bircholt	93.7%	6.3%
32	Tenterden South	94%	6%
33	Upper Weald	94.2%	5.8%
34	Isle of Oxney	94.28%	5.72%
35	Weald South	94.31%	5.69%
36	Weald North	94.37%	5.63%
37	Weald Central	94.75%	5.25%
38	Charing	94.8%	5.2%
39	Tenterden St Michael's	94.97%	5.03%

';Shirkoak is ranked 35 out of 39 wards in Ashford for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Shirkoak?

The largest employment sector in Shirkoak is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	18.56%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	17.37%
Skilled Trades	14.37%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.92%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.58%
Elementary Occupations	7.57%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.4%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	5.6%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Shirkoak and Ashford?

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

Ward	Population
Aylesford & East Stour	6962
Beaver	6975
Biddenden	2600
Bircholt	2849
Bockhanger	3019
Bybrook	3338
Charing	2612
Conningbrook & Little Burton Farm	1790
Downs North	2579
Downs West	2635
Furley	6813
Goat Lees	2587
Godinton	4341
Highfield	2461
Isle of Oxney	2689
Kennington	2272
Kingsnorth Village & Bridgefield	2658
Mersham, Sevington South with Finberry	2142
Norman	3140
Park Farm North	2610
Park Farm South	2730
Repton	2744
Rolvenden & Tenterden West	2675
Roman	2978
Saxon Shore	2632
Singleton East	2704
Singleton West	3049
Stanhope	3744
Tenterden North	2134
Tenterden South	2183
Tenterden St Michael's	2673
Upper Weald	2701
Victoria	6399
Washford	2884
Weald Central	4939
Weald North	2452
Weald South	5354
Willesborough	6371
Wye with Hinxhill	2600
Ashford Total	131018

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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