Almost 300,000 people now providing regular unpaid care, Census shows
And Latest The In Care, Statistics Around Health From Publication Office Delves Into Central Census Depth Disability The Topics
The number of people providing regular unpaid care in Ireland rose significantly to almost 300,000 people last year, with over one in five people reporting at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty, figures from Census 2022 show.
There are now 53% more carers compared to the last Census, and of the total, 45,000 are aged 65 years or over.
Just under one in every 15 people in the State say they are now providing unpaid care, with this figure including 4,759 children.
The latest in-depth Census publication from the Central Statistics Office delves into topics around care, health and disability.
Over 1.1 million people reported experiencing at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty in Census 2022https://t.co/aEOxVP2tDD#CSOIreland #Ireland #Census #Census2022 #CensusIreland #Population #Carers #Health #Disability pic.twitter.com/WyJY7wLJNM
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) September 28, 2023
Sheelagh Bonham, statistician in the Census division, said: “In this publication, the term 'disability' refers to experiencing long-lasting conditions or difficulties and the results show that more than 1.1 million people (22% of the population) experienced at least one long-lasting condition or difficulty.”
In the Census, people were also asked to what extent they felt these long-lasting conditions, with 8% or 407,342 people saying they felt the conditions to a “great extent”.
The counties where the rate of long-lasting conditions or difficulties experienced to a great extent was highest (9%) included Wexford and Cork City, the CSO said.
A difficulty in working at a job or attending education was recorded by over 300,000 people, half of whom reported experiencing it to a great extent.
There were also geographical differences at the level of local electoral areas.
The CSO said: “Areas containing the highest proportions of people experiencing a long-lasting condition or difficulty to a great extent (11%) included Cork City North West, Palmerstown-Fonthill in South Dublin, Limerick City North, Belmullet in Mayo and Artane-Whitehall in Dublin City.
“At 5%, Glencullen-Sandyford in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown reported the lowest proportion.”
The Census also reported a general shift from good to less good health. The percentage of people reporting their general health status as very good decreased from 59% in 2016 to 53% last year.
Among retired people, only 5% said they were in bad or very bad health.
The data also shows 9% of people saying they smoke daily and another 4% saying they smoke occasionally.