Oldham households are the more likely to be home to at least one disabled person than other Greater Manchester boroughs, according to Census data released on Thursday, January 19.

The proportion of unpaid carers in Oldham was also higher than across the country, when accounting for age differences in the population - with nearly 1 in 10 providing unpaid care.

Across England, 17.7 per cent of people (9.8 million) were disabled, compared with a larger percentage, but smaller overall number, in 2011 (19.3 per cent, 9.4 million people).

In England, 67.6 per cent of households had no disabled people living in them on Census Day, March 21, 2021.

In Oldham, 18.3 per cent of people were disabled, down from 19.7 per cent in 2011.

Across Greater Manchester, Oldham and Tameside had the lowest proportion of households with no disabled people, tied at 63.8 per cent of households.

Oldham was also the borough most likely to have two or more disabled people living in one household, at 8.2 per cent of households.

Trafford had the highest proportion, with 69.4 per cent of households in Trafford having no disabled people living there. Just 6 per cent of Trafford households had two or more disabled people living in them.

In Greater Manchester, 64.4 per cent of households had no disabled people living in them, compared to 68 per cent nationwide and 65 per cent in the North West.

London had the highest proportion of completely non-disabled households, at 73.4 per cent of households. The North East had the least in England, with 62.9 per cent of households.

Across the country, households with two or more disabled people ranged from 5.1 per cent in London to 7.8 per cent in the North East.

Unpaid carers

As well as information on personal demographics, the Census asked people "Do you look after, or give any help or support to, anyone because they have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age?".

People were asked to exclude anything they did as part of their paid employment.

Analysts then used age-standardised proportions to enable comparisons over time between areas with different population sizes and age-structures.

In England, 8.9 per cent of people said provide unpaid care – down from 11.3 per cent in 2011. In Oldham, 9.8 per cent of people said they provided unpaid care in 2021, down from 10.8 per cent in 2011.

Across Greater Manchester, Oldham is the borough with the second largest proportion of unpaid carers, tied with Bolton.

Wigan has a higher proportion, with 10.1 per cent of people providing unpaid care.

The Office for National Statistics noted that the census was undertaken during Covid, so this may have affected how people responded.

More coverage of Oldham’s census results can be found on our website, including: population data, overcrowded housing, changes in ethnic makeup, religion, lack of religion, sexuality, motor vehicle ownership, and veterans.