Socio-economic statistics for Four Ashes, Staffordshire

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

Four Ashes 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 South Staffordshire.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
South Staffordshire	2.8%	-0.2%
West Midlands	5%	-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 Four Ashes 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 Four Ashes.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	50.37%
In Part-Time Work	29.81%
Unemployed	2.93%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

70.19% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Four Ashes

What are the occupations of the residents of Four Ashes?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	20.69%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	18.74%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.68%
Skilled Trades	11.24%
Administrative & Secretarial	11%
Elementary Occupations	7.23%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	6.71%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	5.69%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Four Ashes Health Statistics

Brewood and Coven has a significantly lower proportion of residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Brewood and Coven	43.41%	36.17%	14.51%	4.52%	1.39%
South Staffordshire	45.01%	35.73%	13.96%	4.11%	1.2%
West Midlands	46.4%	34.38%	13.54%	4.37%	1.31%
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 South Staffordshire changed since 2011?

South Staffordshire residents who describe their health as either good or very good has decreased by 0.11% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	45.35%	35.5%	13.78%	4.1%	1.27%
2021	45.01%	35.73%	13.96%	4.11%	1.2%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

How many residents own or rent their home in Four Ashes and South Staffordshire

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Four Ashes either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 77.94 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 22.06 of Four Ashes residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Brewood and Coven	77.94%	22.06%
South Staffordshire	74.5%	25.5%
West Midlands	62.8%	37.2%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Four Ashes compared to other wards in South Staffordshire

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Perton East	90.18%	9.82%
2	Codsall South	86.94%	13.06%
3	Perton Dippons	86.24%	13.76%
4	Kinver	80.89%	19.11%
5	Cheslyn Hay North and Saredon	78.65%	21.35%
6	Cheslyn Hay South	78.31%	21.69%
7	Brewood and Coven	77.94%	22.06%
8	Wombourne South East	77.89%	22.11%
9	Pattingham and Patshull	77.31%	22.69%
10	Himley and Swindon	76.94%	23.06%
11	Wombourne North and Lower Penn	76.49%	23.51%
12	Penkridge South East	76.26%	23.74%
13	Great Wyrley Town	75.87%	24.13%
14	Penkridge North East and Acton Trussell	75.15%	24.85%
15	Wheaton Aston, Bishopswood and Lapley	73.95%	26.05%
16	Great Wyrley Landywood	72.9%	27.1%
17	Codsall North	72.84%	27.16%
18	Essington	72.5%	27.5%
19	Featherstone and Shareshill	71.18%	28.82%
20	Trysull and Seisdon	68.74%	31.26%
21	Wombourne South West	68.2%	31.8%
22	Penkridge West	67.86%	32.14%
23	Bilbrook	64.81%	35.19%
24	Perton Lakeside	64.62%	35.38%
25	Huntington and Hatherton	63.69%	36.31%

Four Ashes is ranked 7 out of 25 wards in South Staffordshire for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes Education Statistics

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

Level	Brewood and Coven	England
No Qualifications	21.41%	18.08%
Level 1	9.23%	9.69%
Level 2	12.55%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.68%	5.32%
Level 3	16.17%	16.92%
Level 4	31.32%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes & South Staffordshire 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 Four Ashes in the South Staffordshire local area district.

Four Ashes has a lower rate of immigrants than South Staffordshire, the West Midlands region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Brewood and Coven	96.97%	3.03%
South Staffordshire	96.71%	3.29%
West Midlands	84.84%	15.17%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes compared to other wards in South Staffordshire

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Featherstone and Shareshill	93.9%	6.1%
2	Bilbrook	95.01%	4.99%
3	Perton Lakeside	95.09%	4.91%
4	Wombourne North and Lower Penn	95.48%	4.52%
5	Codsall South	95.7%	4.3%
6	Perton East	95.72%	4.28%
7	Perton Dippons	96.24%	3.76%
8	Codsall North	96.36%	3.64%
9	Trysull and Seisdon	96.56%	3.44%
10	Huntington and Hatherton	96.77%	3.23%
11	Brewood and Coven	96.97%	3.03%
12	Kinver	97.23%	2.77%
13	Penkridge North East and Acton Trussell	97.25%	2.75%
14	Penkridge West	97.27%	2.73%
15	Himley and Swindon	97.3%	2.7%
16	Great Wyrley Landywood	97.32%	2.68%
17	Essington	97.34%	2.66%
18	Wombourne South East	97.45%	2.55%
19	Pattingham and Patshull	97.48%	2.52%
20	Cheslyn Hay North and Saredon	97.74%	2.26%
21	Cheslyn Hay South	97.76%	2.24%
22	Wheaton Aston, Bishopswood and Lapley	97.84%	2.16%
23	Great Wyrley Town	97.97%	2.03%
24	Wombourne South West	98.12%	1.88%
25	Penkridge South East	98.32%	1.68%

';Four Ashes is ranked 11 out of 25 wards in South Staffordshire for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Four Ashes and South Staffordshire?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in South Staffordshire including Four Ashes. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Bilbrook	4237
Brewood and Coven	6716
Cheslyn Hay North and Saredon	4536
Cheslyn Hay South	3494
Codsall North	4604
Codsall South	4127
Essington	5226
Featherstone and Shareshill	7533
Great Wyrley Landywood	4837
Great Wyrley Town	6429
Himley and Swindon	2415
Huntington and Hatherton	5681
Kinver	7166
Pattingham and Patshull	2255
Penkridge North East and Acton Trussell	3838
Penkridge South East	4705
Penkridge West	2060
Perton Dippons	1976
Perton East	2127
Perton Lakeside	6374
Trysull and Seisdon	2256
Wheaton Aston, Bishopswood and Lapley	4294
Wombourne North and Lower Penn	6696
Wombourne South East	3909
Wombourne South West	4878
South Staffordshire Total	112369

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Top 20 most depressing towns in Britain 2024