Armed Forces veterans: insights from the 2021 Census

Thursday 22 February 2024 noon

The 2021 census was the first to ask questions about veterans and therefore the first time we have had data of this kind. A factsheet with headline results was published in December 2022 based on the limited data released at the time, this factsheet has now been updated following additional data releases. You can download the full factsheet from the Understanding Herefordshire website.

The key points from this data release include:

• Veterans report better general health than non-veterans (when adjusted for age and sex) – 70% vs 63%
• Working age veterans are more likely to be economically inactive than working age non-veterans, with 91% of economically inactive working age veterans reporting to be retired
• Households with no veterans are more likely not to be deprived in any dimension than households which have at least one veteran (50% vs 45%). However, veteran households are less likely to be deprived in 3 or more dimensions than non-veteran households (2% vs 3%).

You can explore the data yourself using the Census maps on the ONS website.  These new interactive maps compare Herefordshire to the rest of England and Wales, and you can zoom in to the smaller statistical geographies.