Socio-economic statistics for Lower Birchwood, Derbyshire

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Lower Birchwood and Amber Valley

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Lower Birchwood either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 57.46 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 42.54 of Lower Birchwood residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Somercotes	57.46%	42.54%
Amber Valley	72.01%	27.99%
East Midlands	65.47%	34.53%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Birchwood has a lower level of home ownership than than the national average.

Lower Birchwood compared to other wards in Amber Valley

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Swanwick	84.43%	15.57%
2	Heage and Ambergate	83.53%	16.47%
3	Shipley Park, Horsley and Horsley Woodhouse	83%	17%
4	Belper North	82.03%	17.97%
5	Alport	81.89%	18.11%
6	Duffield	80.54%	19.46%
7	Wingfield	80.48%	19.52%
8	Belper East	79.22%	20.78%
9	South West Parishes	78.5%	21.5%
10	Kilburn, Denby and Holbrook	77.12%	22.88%
11	Heanor and Loscoe	76.18%	23.82%
12	Codnor and Waingroves	75.83%	24.17%
13	Crich	74.34%	25.66%
14	Belper Central	72.95%	27.05%
15	Ripley and Marehay	71.43%	28.57%
16	Belper South	71.19%	28.81%
17	Ripley	68.14%	31.86%
18	Heanor East	67.67%	32.33%
19	Heanor West	63.41%	36.59%
20	Ironville and Riddings	62.98%	37.02%
21	Alfreton	59.27%	40.73%
22	Somercotes	57.46%	42.54%
23	Langley Mill and Aldercar	55.99%	44.01%

Lower Birchwood is ranked 22 out of 23 wards in Amber Valley for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Birchwood Health Statistics

Somercotes 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
Somercotes	41.1%	35.68%	15.81%	5.8%	1.61%
Amber Valley	44.43%	35.44%	14.5%	4.45%	1.18%
East Midlands	46.25%	34.83%	13.58%	4.16%	1.19%
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 Amber Valley changed since 2011?

Amber Valley residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.87% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	44.01%	34.99%	14.99%	4.75%	1.26%
2021	44.43%	35.44%	14.5%	4.45%	1.18%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Birchwood Education Statistics

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

Level	Somercotes	England
No Qualifications	26.63%	18.08%
Level 1	12.4%	9.69%
Level 2	16.78%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.41%	5.32%
Level 3	17.15%	16.92%
Level 4	17.76%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Lower Birchwood?

The largest employment sector in Lower Birchwood is Elementary Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Administrative & Secretarial.

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	16.41%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	14.18%
Skilled Trades	14.07%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.47%
Professional Occupations	9.85%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	9.29%
Associate Professional & Technical	8.69%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.65%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Lower Birchwood 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 Amber Valley.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Amber Valley	2.7%	0.1%
East Midlands	3.4%	-0.2%
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 Lower Birchwood 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 Lower Birchwood.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	56.88%
In Part-Time Work	26.3%
Unemployed	5.44%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

73.7% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Lower Birchwood

Lower Birchwood & Amber Valley 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 Lower Birchwood in the Amber Valley local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Somercotes	94.81%	5.19%
Amber Valley	96.26%	3.74%
East Midlands	86.28%	13.72%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Birchwood compared to other wards in Amber Valley

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Alfreton	93%	7%
2	South West Parishes	93.54%	6.46%
3	Duffield	93.58%	6.42%
4	Somercotes	94.81%	5.19%
5	Heanor West	95.57%	4.43%
6	Belper Central	96.08%	3.92%
7	Heanor East	96.13%	3.87%
8	Belper North	96.29%	3.71%
9	Ironville and Riddings	96.36%	3.64%
10	Alport	96.44%	3.56%
11	Belper South	96.49%	3.51%
12	Langley Mill and Aldercar	96.52%	3.48%
13	Belper East	96.85%	3.15%
14	Shipley Park, Horsley and Horsley Woodhouse	97.1%	2.9%
15	Ripley	97.15%	2.85%
16	Heage and Ambergate	97.22%	2.78%
17	Ripley and Marehay	97.22%	2.78%
18	Codnor and Waingroves	97.35%	2.65%
19	Heanor and Loscoe	97.49%	2.51%
20	Wingfield	97.49%	2.51%
21	Crich	97.66%	2.34%
22	Kilburn, Denby and Holbrook	97.69%	2.31%
23	Swanwick	97.73%	2.27%

';Lower Birchwood is ranked 4 out of 23 wards in Amber Valley for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Birchwood Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Lower Birchwood and Amber Valley?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Amber Valley including Lower Birchwood. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Alfreton	8701
Alport	2691
Belper Central	5554
Belper East	6083
Belper North	4802
Belper South	5925
Codnor and Waingroves	5080
Crich	2677
Duffield	5196
Heage and Ambergate	5086
Heanor and Loscoe	5373
Heanor East	6148
Heanor West	6358
Ironville and Riddings	6451
Kilburn, Denby and Holbrook	7634
Langley Mill and Aldercar	5883
Ripley	9356
Ripley and Marehay	5739
Shipley Park, Horsley and Horsley Woodhouse	6555
Somercotes	6514
South West Parishes	3624
Swanwick	5131
Wingfield	2268
Amber Valley Total	128829

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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