The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (28 September 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 4 – Disability, Health and Carers. This press release highlights some of the main results for Laois. A full list of county press releases is available.
Note also that the categories include difficulties experienced due to old age.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Sheelagh Bonham, Statistician in the Census Division, said:
“Census 2022 Profile 4 provides data and analysis on the long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced by people, the health of the nation, and on carers providing unpaid care. In Census 2022, the two questions (Q15 and Q16) on long-lasting conditions and difficulties were revised to allow people to indicate the extent to which they experienced them which has helped to provide greater insights into the topic (See Editor’s Note below for more information).
Today’s results provide vital data to help track the key developments in these areas. Included for the first time, as a result of a new question in Census 2022, is information on smokers, including how often people smoke and how many people have given it up.”
Results for Laois
Disability
In April 2022 in Laois, more than 20,100 people (22% of the county’s population) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent. Of these, 7,679 people (8% of the county’s population) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent or a lot. A further 12,427 people (14% of the county’s population) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to some extent or a little.
Nationally,1.1 million people (22%) reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent, of whom 407,342 (8%) experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent and 702,215 (14%) to some extent.
In Ireland overall, more females (22%) than males (21%) experienced a long-lasting condition or difficulty to any extent. In Laois, this rate was 22% for females and 21% for males.
Health
The general health question had five response options on the census form ranging from very good, good, fair, bad to very bad. Almost 77,000 people in the county (84%) stated their health was very good or good in Census 2022. This was down from 87% in Census 2016 and 88% in Census 2011. Nationally, 83% of people had good or very good health, down from 87% in 2016 and 88% in 2011.
Among the county’s females, 24,317 (53%) reported very good health, as did 53% of males (24,696).
There were also 1,666 people who reported bad or very bad health in the county, up from 1,343 people in 2016.
Smoking
In Laois, almost 9,000 people smoked daily in April 2022 which was 10% of the population, compared to 9% nationally. More than 3,600 people smoked occasionally (4%) while just over 17,000 people had given up smoking (19%). More than 56,400 people stated they never smoked (61%). Nationally, 60% of the population never smoked.
The number of males in the county who smoked daily was greater than the number of females (5,185 males compared with 3,795 females).
Carers
There were more than 5,500 unpaid carers in Laois in April 2022, which was 6% of the county’s population compared with 4% in 2016. Nationally there were almost 300,000 unpaid carers, or 6% of the population, up from 4% in the previous census.
Females in the county were more likely to be carers than males, with 62% of all carers being female, a similar trend to the national figure. There were 3,389 female carers (7% of all females), compared with 2,116 male carers (5% of all males) in Laois.
There were 106 carers in Laois under 15 years of age providing regular unpaid care which was an increase on 2016 when there were 86 young carers.
As well as the growth in the number of carers, the period between 2016 and 2022 also saw some notable increases in the hours of unpaid care provided. The number of carers in Laois providing 43 or more hours of unpaid help each week more than doubled, from 823 in 2016 to 1,816 in 2022.