Socio-economic statistics for Lower Bitchet, Kent

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

Lower Bitchet Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Lower Bitchet and Sevenoaks

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Lower Bitchet either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 72.1 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 27.9 of Lower Bitchet residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Seal and Weald	72.1%	27.9%
Sevenoaks	71.54%	28.46%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Lower Bitchet compared to other wards in Sevenoaks

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount	84.6%	15.4%
2	Hextable	84.52%	15.48%
3	Fawkham and West Kingsdown	83.62%	16.38%
4	Hartley and Hodsoll Street	81.79%	18.21%
5	Kemsing	79.95%	20.05%
6	Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village	79.8%	20.2%
7	Eynsford	79.6%	20.4%
8	Otford and Shoreham	79.56%	20.44%
9	Sevenoaks Kippington	79.28%	20.72%
10	Brasted, Chevening and Sundridge	76.39%	23.61%
11	Penshurst, Fordcombe and Chiddingstone	75.53%	24.47%
12	Ash and New Ash Green	75.23%	24.77%
13	Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth	73.26%	26.74%
14	Crockenhill and Well Hill	73.1%	26.9%
15	Seal and Weald	72.1%	27.9%
16	Cowden and Hever	71.05%	28.95%
17	Westerham and Crockham Hill	67.46%	32.54%
18	Edenbridge North and East	67.26%	32.74%
19	Leigh and Chiddingstone Causeway	67.19%	32.81%
20	Dunton Green and Riverhead	65.26%	34.74%
21	Sevenoaks Northern	64.55%	35.45%
22	Edenbridge South and West	62.86%	37.14%
23	Sevenoaks Eastern	62.57%	37.43%
24	Sevenoaks Town and St John's	60.3%	39.7%
25	Swanley White Oak	55.95%	44.05%
26	Swanley St Mary's	49.89%	50.11%

Lower Bitchet is ranked 15 out of 26 wards in Sevenoaks for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Bitchet 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 Sevenoaks.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Sevenoaks	2%	-0.2%
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 Lower Bitchet 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 Bitchet.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	55.33%
In Part-Time Work	28.48%
Unemployed	3.2%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

71.52% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Lower Bitchet

What are the occupations of the residents of Lower Bitchet?

The largest employment sector in Lower Bitchet is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	27.12%
Professional Occupations	25.07%
Associate Professional & Technical	15.36%
Skilled Trades	8.55%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.39%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	5.96%
Elementary Occupations	4.75%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	2.01%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Lower Bitchet Education Statistics

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

Level	Seal and Weald	England
No Qualifications	12.69%	18.08%
Level 1	6.82%	9.69%
Level 2	13.22%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	3.28%	5.32%
Level 3	13.1%	16.92%
Level 4	48.86%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Bitchet Health Statistics

Seal and Weald has significantly more residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Seal and Weald	59.24%	28.25%	9.66%	2.31%	0.54%
Sevenoaks	52.62%	32.3%	11.12%	3.04%	0.92%
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 Sevenoaks changed since 2011?

Sevenoaks residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.38% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	51.17%	33.37%	11.47%	3.11%	0.87%
2021	52.62%	32.3%	11.12%	3.04%	0.92%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Bitchet & Sevenoaks 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 Bitchet in the Sevenoaks local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Seal and Weald	87.74%	12.26%
Sevenoaks	88.98%	11.02%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Bitchet compared to other wards in Sevenoaks

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Sevenoaks Town and St John's	76.78%	23.22%
2	Sevenoaks Kippington	81.16%	18.84%
3	Dunton Green and Riverhead	82.92%	17.08%
4	Sevenoaks Eastern	83.17%	16.83%
5	Sevenoaks Northern	84.5%	15.5%
6	Swanley St Mary's	85.75%	14.25%
7	Brasted, Chevening and Sundridge	87.15%	12.86%
8	Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village	87.2%	12.8%
9	Seal and Weald	87.74%	12.26%
10	Swanley White Oak	89.26%	10.74%
11	Edenbridge South and West	91.28%	8.72%
12	Otford and Shoreham	91.47%	8.53%
13	Leigh and Chiddingstone Causeway	91.8%	8.2%
14	Edenbridge North and East	91.87%	8.13%
15	Cowden and Hever	91.98%	8.02%
16	Kemsing	92.05%	7.95%
17	Penshurst, Fordcombe and Chiddingstone	92.11%	7.89%
18	Crockenhill and Well Hill	92.42%	7.58%
19	Westerham and Crockham Hill	92.53%	7.47%
20	Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount	92.79%	7.21%
21	Hextable	93.14%	6.86%
22	Hartley and Hodsoll Street	93.53%	6.47%
23	Ash and New Ash Green	93.77%	6.23%
24	Fawkham and West Kingsdown	94.06%	5.94%
25	Eynsford	94.2%	5.8%
26	Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth	94.62%	5.38%

';Lower Bitchet is ranked 9 out of 26 wards in Sevenoaks for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Lower Bitchet and Sevenoaks?

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

Ward	Population
Ash and New Ash Green	6025
Brasted, Chevening and Sundridge	6740
Cowden and Hever	2111
Crockenhill and Well Hill	1964
Dunton Green and Riverhead	6246
Edenbridge North and East	5309
Edenbridge South and West	4652
Eynsford	1838
Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth	5031
Fawkham and West Kingsdown	5976
Halstead, Knockholt and Badgers Mount	3514
Hartley and Hodsoll Street	5874
Hextable	4091
Kemsing	4201
Leigh and Chiddingstone Causeway	2407
Otford and Shoreham	4716
Penshurst, Fordcombe and Chiddingstone	2556
Seal and Weald	4298
Sevenoaks Eastern	4390
Sevenoaks Kippington	5346
Sevenoaks Northern	4637
Sevenoaks Town and St John's	7442
Swanley Christchurch and Swanley Village	6300
Swanley St Mary's	4675
Swanley White Oak	6505
Westerham and Crockham Hill	4543
Sevenoaks Total	121387

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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