Children: a statistical picture
The 2011 Census’ findings about children and young people in Northern Ireland.
With 24 per cent of its residents aged under 18, Northern Ireland has one of the youngest populations in Europe. This also means that over a quarter of the population has no living memory of the Troubles.
This section of the population adds up to 430,763 young people. Of these, 100,298 were under school age, 158,678 were in the 4-11 year old bracket and 121,508 were aged 12-15. A further 51,440 were aged 16 and 17 and therefore above the school leaving age.
The proportion of under 18s was highest in Newry and Mourne and Magherafelt (27 per cent). Districts west of the Bann and in the M1 commuter belt were above the regional average. The lowest proportion (20 per cent) was in North Down and similar figures were found in Belfast, Castlereagh and across County Antrim.
The Protestant community has an older age structure than the Catholic community. The census found that 26 per cent of Catholics were aged under 18 compared to 7 per cent of Protestants. The school population in the 2011-2012 academic year was 51 per cent Catholic, 37 per cent Protestant and 12 per cent other.
A total of 322,825 pupils were enrolled, of which 164,746 were at primary schools and 146,747 at post-primary schools. In the latter category, 62,554 attended grammars and 84,193 attended non-grammars. 5,911 pupils were enrolled at nursery schools, 4,549 at special schools, 681 at independent schools and 191 at hospital schools.
The number of births has averaged around 25,000 per year since 2007. Births had declined to 21,385 in 2002 before increasing.
Good economic conditions appeared to encourage more people to settle down and start families and some new parents would have come as migrants from Eastern Europe. The percentage of births within marriage decreased from 62 per cent to 58 per cent between 2007 and 2012.
Going forward, the number of under 18s is expected to peak at 449,000 in 2024 and then decline to 424,000 ten years later.
With an ageing population, the number of people aged over 60 will overtake the number of children in 2022 and the traditional working age population will steadily decrease as well. Population projections are based on future assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration, which are in turn influenced by health policy and economics.
