2011 Census: Ethnicity - Economic Activity and General Health

Economic activity

A resident is considered economically active if employed, self-employed, unemployed but looking for work and able to start within two weeks, or a full-time student who also has a job. The figures referred to below are for those residents aged 16 and over.

Sandwell has a slightly lower rate of economic activity than England & Wales (60.8% of residents compared to 63.3%). 87.7% of Sandwell's economically active are in employment compared to 92.6% nationally, whilst 12.3% of Sandwell's economically active are unemployed, compared to 7.4% in England & Wales.

  • 58.3% of Sandwell's White British population (aged 16 & over) are economically active (EA), compared to 78.7% of Other White residents.
  • 23.0% of Sandwell's EA residents of Mixed origin are unemployed, whilst 17.9% of Black EA are without a job. This compares to only 11.2% of economically active White British residents.
  • 13.7% of Asian economically active residents are self-employed, compared to only 6.2% of EA Black residents.
  • 28.5% of economically inactive (EI) Other White residents are looking after the home or family, compared to only 4.2% of Irish, Gypsy or Irish Traveller EI residents.
  • Considering those EI who are long-term sick or disabled, 15.8% of those of "Other" origins fall into this category, compared to only 10.4% of EI Other White residents.

    • Detailed data by ethnicity and ward can be downloaded as a spreadsheet.

    General health

    Residents were asked to assess their general state of health on a five point scale: very good, good, fair, bad or very bad. Over three-quarters of Sandwell residents (76.7%), described themselves as being in good or very good health, compared with 81.2% in England & Wales. A further 15.6% of Sandwell residents described their health as fair, and the remaining 7.7% described their health as bad or very bad.

    Considering the different ethnic groups, White British residents are less likely to consider their health good or very good (73.3%). This compares with 89.9% from mixed/multiple ethnic groups and 84.4% of Bangladeshi residents. In contrast 8.9% of White British residents consider their health to be bad or very bad, compared to only 2.8% of those of mixed/multiple origin. Looking at the wards:

  • over 80% of White British residents in Abbey consider their health to be good or very good, compared to only 63.1% in West Bromwich Central.
  • 94.5% of Bangladeshi residents in Bristnall say their health is good or very good, whilst 90% of Indian residents in Princes End say the same.
  • 12.4% of White British residents in West Bromwich Central consider their health to be bad or very bad, and a similar proportion of Bangladeshi residents in Charlemont with Grove Vale report this.

    • Data on general health by ethnicity by ward can be downloaded here.