Health conditions

The census asked if people had a health condition which had lasted or was expected to last more than twelve months. A list of conditions was presented along with descriptions. People were asked to tick all that apply.

In 2022, among children in residential care, a third (33%) were reported as having one or more of learning disability, learning difficulty or developmental disorder, and 16% had a mental health condition. Smaller proportions were reported as having a long-term illness, disease or condition not otherwise listed (7%), a physical disability (4%), being blind or partially vision impaired (2%), experiencing full or partial loss of voice or difficulty speaking (2%), or being deaf or partially hearing impaired (1%).

Figure 6: A third of children in residential care have a learning disability, learning difficulty or developmental disorder.

Percentage of children living in residential care by health condition, 2022.

As children in residential care tend to be older, some differences in the prevalence of health conditions from children in households are likely due to some health conditions and their impacts becoming more apparent with age.

Among children in households, 9% were reported as having one or more of learning disability, learning difficulty or developmental disorder, and 5% had a long-term illness, disease or condition not otherwise listed. Smaller proportions were reported as having a mental health condition (3%), a physical disability (1%), being blind or partially vision impaired (1%), being deaf or partially hearing impaired (1%), or experiencing full or partial loss of voice or difficulty speaking (0%).