Analysis of Ethnicity in the 2001 Census - Summary Report

Analysis of Ethnicity in the 2001 Census - Summary Report

4. HEALTH AND CARE

General Health

Chart 4.1 shows the percentage of people within each ethnic group who assessed themselves to be in good or fairly good health, or not in good health. The Chinese have the highest proportion of people with good or fairly good health (96%). This is closely followed by people in the Other Ethnic group and Africans with 95% of each group reporting good or fairly good health. In contrast, 86% of White Irish people reported good or fairly good health.

Self-perception of health is highly correlated with age; overall 90% of people report themselves to be in good or fairly good health and 10% in poor health. However, the figures for 0-15 years show 99% in good or fairly good health, and 1% in poor health. For people aged 60 years and over, these percentages change quite dramatically: 78% in good or fairly good health and 22% in poor health. Chart 1.1 illustrated the different age profiles of the different ethnic groups in Scotland. In particular, the four white groups have a high percentage of people over pensionable age and this will have a large effect on the overall picture. To try and give a more meaningful comparison of self perception of health among different ethnic groups, the data have been split into age bands. The results are shown in Charts 4.2-4.6 below.

• Virtually all children are reported to be in good or fairly good health.
• The White Irish, Pakistani, Black Scottish/Other Black and Mixed backgrounds all reported the lowest percentage or children in good or fairly good health (98%). However, the difference with other ethnic groups is very small: all other groups reported 99% of children in good or fairly good health.

• The Bangladeshi group report the lowest level of good or fairly good health (95%) in the 16-24 age group. However, the overall situation is reasonably similar for all groups.

• Differences in health perceptions are starting to become apparent within this age group. Only 91% of Black Scottish/Other Black and 92% of Mixed backgrounds consider themselves to be in good or fairly good health. This compares with 98% of Chinese - the group reporting the highest percentage of people in good or fairly good health.

• With the 35-59 age group, Pakistanis report the poorest health with only 81% considering themselves to be in good or fairly good health.
• The Chinese continue to have the best health with 94% reporting good or fairly good health.

• Once again, Pakistanis report the poorest health with only 59% of people aged 60 years and over reporting good or fairly good health.
• In comparison, the Other White British group (81%), Bangladeshi (80%) and Other ethnic group (80%) reported the highest percentages of people in good or fairly good health.

Long term limiting illness and disability

Table 4.1: Long term limiting illness and disability by ethnic group and age - All People
Percentages and Base Numbers

Looking at all age groups together, the four White groups have a higher rate of disability and long term illness than minority ethnic groups. However these data are best looked at within age bands since the incidence of disability and long term ill-health increases with age.

• For children, the rate of long-term limiting illness or disability is very similar across all ethnic groups, with all groups reporting 4% or 5%.
• Within the 16-24 age group, Bangladeshi and Black Scottish/Other Black people have the highest incidence of long-term illness or disability with each group reporting 8%.
• The Black Scottish/Other Black population aged 25-34 years continue to have the highest proportion of people with long-term illness or disability. People from Mixed backgrounds have the same rate of long-term illness or disability (12%). This is followed by White Scottish, Pakistani and Other South Asian ethnic groups who all report 10% of people, in the 25-34 age group, with long-term illness or disability.
• Within the 35-59 age group, Pakistanis have the highest rate of long-term illness or disability (28%).
• It is evident that as the population ages, a much higher proportion of people have long-term illness or disability. For all ethnic groups, at least 40% of people aged 60 years and over report themselves to have a long-term illness or disability. This is highest for the Pakistani group with 66% having a long-term limiting illness or disability.

Provision of care

Table 4.2: Provision of care by ethnic group - All People
Percentages

Table 4.2 shows the percentage of each ethnic group who provide some or no care to members of their family, friends or neighbours. It appears that White Scottish people are more likely to provide care (9.6% provide some degree of care) but these data will be highly influenced by the differing age structures. The need for care increases with age, and with a high percentage of the population in the older age categories, the White Scottish population is likely to have more need for care.

One way to take account of the different age structures of the populations is to look at the ratio of the number of people who provide care to the population aged over 65 years in each ethnic group (Table 4.3). These standardised data provide a clearer picture of care provision after taking into account the differential need for care and suggest that the groups who provide the greatest amount of care are Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. However the data do rest on a couple of assumptions which are unlikely to be wholly correct: that all caring takes places within ethnic group and that the only people requiring care are those over 65 years. Further work is needed to better understand the relationship between the need for care and the provision for care within and between ethnic groups.

Table 4.3: Ratio of number of people providing care to population aged 65 years+