2001 Census ‘Think’ Pieces

The Research and Information Team have put together a series of reports replicating research undertaken by the University of Sheffield*. Their work showed the key patterns and inequalities in life in the UK as revealed by the 2001 Census. The project focused on differences between areas within the UK, highlighting those where service and opportunities appear not to be available or accessible and often finding that they are lacking or missing in places that need them most. For further information please follow the link below:

http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/research/life_in_britain.htm

The research has been re-worked for Leicestershire using 2001 Census data highlighting some policy issues in the county, including housing affordability, educational attainment, car availability and graduate employment.

Educational Attainment

This report looks at the relationship between the performance of children’s educational performance and the qualification level of their parents. The research finds that areas with fewer well qualified 40-54 year olds tend to have fewer qualified young people. However, further research has found children perform better in areas with high levels of well-educated parents irrespective of whether their own parents are educated to degree level.

educational_attainment.pdf

Car Availability

This report highlights the geographical divide based on access to cars indicating it can be a better indicator of wealth than is often assumed. The research discovered that there are an equal number of households without access to a car with dependent children compared to households with three or more cars with only two or less people. The former households largely reside in the poorest parts of the county.

car_availability.pdf

Graduate Employment

This report asks whether people with a degree are working in high level occupations. The research discovered that the majority of highly skilled people are employed in well paid jobs, but a significant minority work in routine or semi routing occupations. There appears to be a spatial mismatch at work with a strong negative relationship between areas where graduates live who tend to work in high level jobs and graduates that work in lower level employment. This implies that place of residence can influence employment potential rather than qualification levels alone.

graduate_labour_market.pdf