What Census 2021 shows about women in Waltham Forest

A woman logs on to the Census 2021 website ahead of all households being asked to complete the census ahead of Census Day on Sunday. Picture date: Saturday March 20, 2021.

From unpaid carers to disability, the recent census has revealed areas where there are significant differences for men and women in Waltham Forest.

It comes as International Women's Day is celebrated this week with women's rights charity The Fawcett Society saying more concerted action is needed to tackle gender inequality in the UK.

The census survey taken across England and Wales in March 2021 shows of the 278,425 usual residents in Waltham Forest, 141,951 are women – accounting for 51% of the area's population.

In Waltham Forest, women made up 59.3% of unpaid carers, meaning they were looking after someone because of long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age without compensation.

This is similar to the trend across England and Wales where there are approximately 2.8 million female unpaid carers and approximately 1.9 million male unpaid carers.

Additionally, women in Waltham Forest were more likely to have a disability than men, with 17.7% of women stating they were disabled in the census, while 15.5% of men did.

The recent census also revealed 2,475 people in Waltham Forest had previously served in the UK armed forces. Just 390 (15.8%) of them were women.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said there is not a single "sure-fire" solution to improve gender equality in the UK, but more action is needed.

"This Government must urgently reform the childcare system so that it is affordable, accessible, and works for women and employers must make flexible work the default," she added.

She said: "We simply can't allow this Government to stand by as women's hard-fought gains are lost."

Contrary to national trends, women in Waltham Forest were less likely than men to identify with a sexuality other than heterosexual. Figures show around 5,000 women in the area (4.4% of women) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexuality, while 5,045 men (4.7%) did.

Across England and Wales, females (3.3%) were more likely to have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexual orientation than males (3%).

Census data shows 52.1% of women in the area identified as white, 15.9% as black, 19.6% as Asian, 6.7% as mixed and 5.7% as another ethnicity.