Huge amounts of data has been collected about residents in West Berkshire over the last 15 years.
Huge amounts of data collected about residents in West Berkshire over the last 15 years have been funnelled through the super computers at the National Office for Statistics. That data shows the population rose by five per cent between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, from around 153,800 to around 161,400. The current population is now 165,112.
In 2021 West Berkshire had about 1.6 people per football-pitch-sized piece of land and was among the lowest quarter for population density across English local authority areas.
An older West Berkshire
The area has aged: the average age went up three years, from 40 to 43, higher than the England average of 40. The median age is the person in the middle of the group, so half are younger and half are older. The number of people aged 65 to 74 rose by around 4,100 (an increase of 31.7 per cent), while residents aged 35 to 49 fell by around 4,000.
Change in employment
West Berkshire saw the South East’s second-largest percentage-point fall in the share of people aged 16 and over (excluding full-time students) who were employed, from 65 per cent in 2011 to 61.7 per cent in 2021. Only West Oxfordshire saw a greater fall.
Despite this decrease, West Berkshire was in the highest 10 per cent of English local authority areas for the share of people aged 16 and over who were employed in 2021.
The 2021 census took place during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic; lockdowns, guidance and furlough measures will have affected the labour market and the government statistician’s ability to measure it.
West Berkshire also saw the South East’s joint third-largest percentage-point fall (alongside Wokingham) in people aged 16 and over and in employment who said they usually worked more than 49 hours per week. The percentage of adults in employment who worked 49 hours or more decreased by 3.7 percentage points. Across the region, only Bracknell Forest (from 15.8 per cent to 11.7 per cent) saw a greater decrease, and every local authority area in the South East saw a fall.
Rise in private renting
Private renting increased in West Berkshire: 17.1 per cent of households rented privately in 2021, up from 13.7 per cent in 2011 — a rise of 3.4 percentage points, larger than the regional increase. Just under one in seven households lived in socially rented housing, and 67.6 per cent of households owned their home (outright or with a mortgage or loan).
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
