New report released by NISRA profiles Northern Ireland's UK Armed Forces veteran population using information from Census 2021
Date published:
NISRA has today published a report that provides a detailed profile of the UK Armed Forces veteran population living in Northern Ireland at the time of Census 2021 – March 2021. The report has been made possible by linking administrative records from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to Census 2021 records.
Key findings include:
- A total of 37,697 UK Armed Forces veterans were identified through the linkage of MOD administrative records with Census 2021 data.
- Those linked were predominantly male (88.6%) and were concentrated in the 50–59 age group.
- Most veterans living in Northern Ireland were born here (79.1%). Among those not born in Northern Ireland, the largest group arrived before 1991 (10.0% of all veterans), while smaller proportions arrived between 1991 and 2000 (4.4%), 2001 and 2010 (3.3%), and 2011 and 2021 (3.2%).
- Being married or in a civil partnership was the most common marital status among veterans, accounting for 60.9% of the veteran population.
- While most veterans had good (34.9%) or very good (32.8%) health, around one-third had their day-to-day activities limited to some extent by a long-term health problem or disability, and almost half had one or more long-term health conditions.
- Compared with non-veterans, veterans were more likely to have long-term health conditions relating to long-term pain or discomfort, deafness or partial hearing loss.
- Veterans were more likely than non-veterans to be economically active in the week before the census, with full-time employees accounting for the largest proportion of veterans (43.9%) and representing the largest difference with non-veterans (32.8% for non-veterans).
- Around 60.7% of veterans were in employment in the week before Census 2021. ‘Public administration, education and health’ was the most common industry of employment for these veterans.
- Veterans were less likely than non-veterans to have no qualifications. Among those with qualifications, the most common highest level held by veterans was Level 4 and above, at 23.9% (Level 4 and above qualifications refers to Degree, foundation degree, NVQ Level 4 and above, HND, HNC, professional qualifications or equivalents). However, veterans were less likely than non-veterans to hold Level 4 or above qualifications (23.9% compared with 28.5%).
- Almost three-quarters (74.1%) of veteran households at the time of the census were owner-occupied – which is broadly consistent with the non-veteran population.
- The most common household composition was a couple family (61.1%), while around one-fifth of veterans lived in a one-person household.
Further detail
Almost 38,000 UK Armed Forces veterans were successfully linked to Census 2021 to facilitate this report, providing a strong basis for the analysis published today.
This approach was adopted in favour of including a direct census question on veteran status – following consultation, testing and stakeholder engagement in advance of Census 2021.
However, there are limitations with this methodology. The Ministry of Defence data used for the linkage does not include personnel who left service before 1975, leading to an undercoverage of older veterans, particularly those aged 65 and over. Consequently, the linked dataset may not represent the full veteran population living here at the time of the Census 2021.
The data presented in the report covers a wide range of topics, including health, housing, employment, qualifications and migration, with geographic breakdowns by Local Government District and Health and Social Care Trust. Despite the documented limitations, it provides an important source of analysis that can be used to inform how and where support services for veterans might be required.