Tag: Data

Stats

‘Neurodiversity’ is a term meaning people have different brain types. The term neurodivergent can be used by people who have neurological condition such as, but not limted to: autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia and discalculia. It is also common for  neurodivergent conditions to be co-occuring (a person can have two or more conditions).

Autism is a  ‘spectrum’ condition, with a wide range of characteristics, but which nevertheless share some common features in terms of how people learn and process information.

• Without understanding, autistic people and families are at risk of being isolated and developing mental health problems.
• Autism is much more common than many people think. It is currently estimated there are around 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK – that’s more than 1 in 100¹. If you include their families, autism is a part of daily life for 2.8 million people.
• Autism doesn’t just affect children. Autistic children grow up to be autistic adults.
• Autism is a hidden disability – you can’t always tell if someone is autistic.
• Autism is not something which can be cured, but the right support at the right time can make an enormous difference to people’s lives.
• According to a survey in 2021, Less than half of autistic children are happy in school. [2]
• Three quarters of parents and carers (74%) said their child’s school place did not fully meet their needs. [2]
• There are over 160,000 autistic pupils in schools across England.* Over 70% are in mainstream school, with the rest in specialist education, home educated or out of education altogether. [2]
• Government figures show that autistic children are twice as likely to be excluded from school either for a fixed period or permanently as pupils with no special educational needs. [2]
• Seven in 10 autistic children say that the biggest thing that would make school better is having a teacher who understands autism. [2]
• 70% of autistic young people have mental health problems, compared to 13% of their non-autistic peers [3]
• Autistic people are four times more likely to experience loneliness and social isolation.[3]
•  Only 16% of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time paid work [7]
• The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published data in 2020 that shows just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment [4]
• Autistic spectrum conditions are not classed as a learning disability in themselves, however, approximately 20-30% of people with a learning disability also have autism and people with autism are more likely to experience mental health problems. [6]
• Around 70% of autistic people have at least one physical or mental health issue, including anxiety disorders, epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but these are often unrecognised. [6]

^[1] What is Autism, National Autistic Society

[2] School Report 2021, National Autistic Society

[3] World Autism Acceptance Week, 2023, National Autistic Society

[4] New Data on the Autism Employment Gap, National Autistic Society

[5] The Autism Act, 10 years on, National Autistic Society

[6] People with a Learning disability, autism or both, NHS England

[7] The Autism Employment Gap, National Autistic Society

Organisations

Autism in Mind support individuals who are both newly diagnosed with autism or diagnosed during childhood but have been unable to access support or services during their adult lives.

Autism Independent UK helps to increase awareness of autism to the notice of all, together with well established and newly developed approaches in the diagnosis, assessment, education and treatment.

Dimensions supports people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs out of institutions, helping them lead ordinary lives in their local communities.

National Autistic Society is the leading UK charity for autistic people (including those with Asperger syndrome) and their families.

Contact support families with the best possible guidance and information, bringing families together to support each other, and helping them to campaign, volunteer and fundraise to improve life for themselves and others.

Stats

• The number of people with dementia globally is estimated to be 46.8 million. Currently, this is greater than the total population of Spain and is projected to nearly triple by 2050.^[1]
• In 2015 in the UK an estimated 850,000 people were living with dementia, of whom 40,000 were aged under 65 (younger people with dementia) and 25,000 were from black and minority ethnic groups in the UK.
• By 2051 there will be an estimated 2 million people living with dementia in the UK.
• A third of babies born today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
• Two thirds of people with dementia are women.
• One in six people aged 80 and over have dementia.
• 225,000 people will develop dementia this year, that’s one every three minutes.
• Two thirds of people with dementia live in the community while one third live in care homes where 80 per cent of residents have a form of dementia.
• Dementia is the leading cause of death amongst women and the third leading cause of death in men.
• The financial cost of dementia to the UK is £26 billion per annum.
• There are 670,000 carers of people with dementia in the UK.
• In 2015 only 44% of people with dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received a diagnosis of dementia.^[2]
• 72% of people living with dementia also have another medical condition or disability.
• A quarter oof hospital beds are occupied by people living with dementia who are over 65.
• 39% of people under 60 years and 52% of people 60 years and above said that Alzheimer’s is the disease they are most concerned about. It is the most feared disease for people 60 years and above.^[3]
• Dementia is ‘young onset’ when it affects people of working age, usually between 30 and 65 years old. It is also referred to as ‘early onset’ or ‘working-age’ dementia.
• It is estimated that there are 42,325 people in the UK who have been diagnosed with young onset dementia. (Ref Dementia UK, 2nd edition 2014, Alzheimer’s Society).  They represent around 5% of the 850,000 people with dementia.^[4]

^[1] Alzheimer’s Research UK – Statistics about dementia
^[2] Alzheimer’s Society – Dementia UK Report
^[3]  Alzheimer’s Research UK – Statistics about dementia
^[4] Young Dementia UK – Young onset dementia facts and figures

Organisations

Alzheimer’s Society believe passionately that life doesn’t end when dementia begins. They are there for anyone affected by dementia, and are committed to keeping people with dementia connected to their lives and the people who matter most.

Dementia Friends is a programme, led by Alzheimer’s Society. It is the biggest ever initiative to change people’s perceptions of dementia, aiming to transform the way the nation thinks, acts and talks about the condition.

Dementia Action Alliance is for organisations across England to connect, share best practice and take action on dementia. Members include leading charities, hospitals, social care providers, Government bodies, pharmaceuticals, royal colleges, and wellbeing organisations.

Alzheimer’s Research UK is the UK’s leading dementia research charity, dedicated to causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure. Backed by scientists and supporters, they are challenging the way people think about dementia, uniting big thinkers in the field and funding innovative science that will deliver a cure.

Age UK‘s vision is to make the UK a great place to grow older, by inspiring, supporting and enabling in a number of ways.

Young Dementia UK is the dedicated national charity for younger people with dementia and their families.  They are committed to helping those affected to continue to live life, by providing support, social events and information.

Arts 4 Dementia develop arts programmes to empower, re-energise and inspire people with early-stage dementia and carers through challenging artistic stimulation, to help them live better for longer in their own homes.

Creative Dementia Arts Network create challenges and possibilities connecting artists, arts organisations and cultural institutions with commissioners of creative arts for dementia.

Created Out of Mind is aiming to explore, challenge and shape perceptions and understanding of dementias through science and the creative arts.

DEEP (Dementia Empowerment and Engagement Project) brings together groups of people with dementia from across the UK. DEEP supports these groups to try to change services and policies that affect the lives of people with dementia.

Innovations in Dementia’s work supports people with dementia to keep control of their lives, by running innovative projects, providing a training and consultancy service and influencing how others work with people with dementia.

Stats

• A recent index of 301 diseases, globally, found mental health problems to be one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide.
• According to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease study, the predominant mental health problem worldwide is depression, followed by anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
• In 2013, depression was the second leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide, behind lower back pain. In 26 countries, depression was the primary driver of disability.
• Depressive disorders also contribute to the burden of suicide and heart disease on mortality and disability; they have both a direct and an indirect impact on the length and quality of life.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 35% and 50% of people with severe mental health problems in developed countries, and 76 – 85% in developing countries, receive no treatment.
• Nearly half (43.4%) of adults in the UK think that they have had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their life (35.2% of men and 51.2% of women). A fifth of men (19.5%) and a third of women (33.7%) have had diagnoses confirmed by professionals.
• In 2014, 19.7% of people in the UK aged 16 and older showed symptoms of anxiety or depression – a 1.5% increase from 2013. This percentage was higher among females (22.5%) than males (16.8%).
• In 2014, suicide was the leading cause of death for men under 50 years of age in England and Wales, and for women aged 20–34.71 The demographic with the highest suicide rate (of 23.9 per 100,000 population) was men aged 45–59.
• The number of hospital admissions due to intentional self-harm has been rising over the last decade, from 91,341 in September 2005–August 2006 to 112,096 in September 2014–August 2015 – a decrease of 1.8% from the previous 12-month period, when there were 114,105 admissions.
• People with severe mental health problems are much more likely to harm themselves than they are to harm others. In 2013, 1,876 suicides were recorded among mental health inpatients in the UK, compared to 51 homicides.
• People with mental health problems are more likely to be victims of violence than those without mental health problems.
• A review of joint inspections undertaken by the Healthcare Commission and HM Inspectorate of Probation in 2009 found that 43% of young people aged 18 or younger on community orders have emotional and mental health needs.^[1]
• 93 per cent of people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities who have mental health problems face discrimination because of them.^[2]
• There is a tendency for different types of news and information media to present mental illnesses in a way that promotes stigma (e.g., by conflating it with violence and crime) and/or perpetuates myths about mental illness (e.g., by presenting information that is inaccurate about, say, treatment and prognosis).
• A review found that mass media stigma reduction campaigns, web‐based mental health literacy programs and documentary films can all have positive effects, particularly if they include personalised stories (as opposed to education alone).^[3]
• Civic engagement is associated with a more positive outlook, greater well-being and lower prevalence of anxiety or depression^[4]
• Cinema attendance can be both a personally expressive experience, good fun, and therapeutic at the same time.
• In a rather groundbreaking study, Konlaan, Bygren and Johansson found that frequent cinema attendees have particularly low mortality risks – those who never attended the cinema had mortality rates nearly 4 times higher than those who visit the cinema at least occasionally.
• IsoAhola and Park found that social leisure activities promoted better mental health than non-social leisure activities.^[5]

^[1] The Mental Health Foundation – Fundamental Facts about Mental Health 2016
^[2] Black and Minority Ethnic communities faced with double the levels of discrimination
^[3] Hunter Institute of Mental Health: Mental illness in the news and information media
^[4] Donovan, Halpern, and Sargeant 2002; Putnam 2001
^[5] Institute for Social and Economic Research – Cinema is good for you

Organisations

Mind provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

The Mental Health Foundation is the UK’s charity for everyone’s mental health. With prevention at the heart of what they do, they aim to find and address the sources of mental health problems.

SANE is a leading UK mental health charity, working to improve quality of life for anyone affected by mental illness.

Heads Together is a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, which combines a campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health with fundraising for a series of innovative new mental health services.

Young Minds is leading the fight for a future where all young minds are supported and empowered, whatever the challenges. They aim to ensure young people get the best possible mental health support and have the resilience to overcome life’s difficulties.

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) is leading a movement against male suicide, the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK.

Mental Health UK brings together four national mental health charities working across the UK, which have 40 years’ experience of working to improve life for people affected by mental illness in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland:

Rethink Mental Illness directly supports tens of thousands of people in England every year, whether they are experiencing depression or anxiety for the first time, or require long-term support to cope with bipolar disorder, psychosis or schizophrenia.

Zero Suicide Alliance is a collaborative of National Health Service trusts, businesses and individuals who are all committed to suicide prevention in the UK and beyond. The alliance is ultimately concerned with improving support for people contemplating suicide by raising awareness of and promoting free suicide prevention training which is accessible to all.

Support in Mind Scotland aims to improve the quality of life of anyone whose mental health problem or mental illness has a serious impact on their life or the lives of others including families, carers and supporters.

Hafal is Wales’ leading charity for people with serious mental illness and their carers.

MindWise is a leading mental health charity in Northern Ireland delivering over 30 services.

Time to Change is the growing social movement changing how we all think and act about mental health. Still too many people are made to feel ashamed or isolated because they have a mental health problem but we’re here to change that.

They also have a list of further mental health support organisations.

Stats

• In the UK, asylum applications (excluding dependents) peaked at 84,100 in 2002 and reached a low point of 17,900 in 2010. After several years of increases, applications dropped by 6% to 30,700 in 2016.
• Asylum applicants and their dependents comprised an estimated 9% of net migration in 2015, down from 44% in 2002.
• In 2016, 68% of initial asylum applications were refused but 42% of appeals against initial refusals were successful.
• Men made up 75% of main applicants for asylum in 2016.
• The UK received about 3% of asylum claims made in EU countries (plus Norway and Switzerland) in 2016, and was the sixth highest recipient of asylum claims.^[1]
• According to the UNHCR, by mid-2015 there were 117,234 refugees, 37,829 pending asylum cases and 16 stateless persons in the UK. That’s less than one quarter of a percent of the UK’s total population (around 0.24%)
• Asylum applications to the UK are relatively low – 32,733 in 2015. Although they have increased a little in recent years, they’re still significantly lower today than the peak of 84,000 applications back in 2002.
• The vast majority of people who seek asylum in the UK have fled countries ravaged by war and human rights abuses. In 2015, the largest number of asylum applications to the UK came from nationals of Eritrea (3,695), Iran (3,242), Sudan (2,912) and Syria (2,539).
• Over 65 million people around the globe have had to flee their homes – that’s like the entire British population having to leave.
• It’s poor countries, not rich, western countries, who look after the vast majority of the world’s refugees. The UN’s Refugee Agency estimates that nearly nine in ten of the world’s refugees are sheltered by developing countries.
• Last year, 172, 362 people arrived in Europe via sea. Just under half were women and children. 3,119 men, women and children have lost their lives during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
• In September 2015, European countries agreed to relocate 160,000 refugees away from Greece and Italy to help ease the pressure. By September 2017, almost 27,700 refugees had been relocated.
• In 2017, an estimated 668,600 people sought safety in Europe. Britain received 26,350 asylum applications, a 14% decrease since the year before. Britain received less than 3% of all asylum claims made in the EU during last year.
• By the end of 2017 more than 14,600 asylum applications had been waiting for longer than six months for an initial decision on the case. That’s an increase from 8,820 compared with the previous year. In Germany alone, 199,200 asylum applications were made.
• The total backlog in cases pending a decision totalled 28,787.
• In 2017, 27,331 people were imprisoned in immigration detention centres; among them many people seeking asylum. 54% were released back into the community.
• The number of Syrian refugees resettled in the UK now stands at 10,538 since the conflict began.
• In 2017, 813 non-Syrian refugees were resettled in Britain via the Gateway Protection Programme run in conjunction with the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Just 1% of the world’s refugees will ever be resettled.^[2]

^[1]Migration to the UK: Asylum – The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford
^[2]Refugee Council – Top 20 facts about refugees and asylum seekers.

Organisations

Refugee Action has spent 35 years helping refugees build safe, hopeful and productive new lives in the UK.

In Place of War has worked with creative communities in some of the most challenging contexts in the world. It is a support system for community artistic, creative and cultural organisations in places of conflict, revolution and areas suffering the consequences of conflict.

Regional Refugee Forum North East is the independent membership organisation created by and for the North East region’s Refugee-led Community Organisations (RCOs), enabling them to unite and produce their Collective Voice and empowering them to be active agents in change.

Women for Refugee Women challenges the injustices experienced by women who seek asylum in the UK.

The Refugee Council is one of the leading charities in the UK working directly with refugees, and supporting them to rebuild their lives.

University of East London – Directory of Services & Organisations for Refugees, Asylum Seekers & Migrants

Stats

• There are 11 million people with hearing loss across the UK, that’s around one in six of us.
• There are 50,000 children with hearing loss in the UK. Around half are born with hearing loss while the other half lose their hearing during childhood.
• An estimated 900,000 people in the UK have severe or profound hearing loss.
• It is estimated that there are at least 24,000 people across the UK who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their main language (although there are likely to be more that we don’t know about).
• Hearing loss can lead to withdrawal from social situations, emotional distress, and depression. Research shows that it increases the risk of loneliness, but only for those who don’t wear hearing aids.
• Hearing loss can increase the risk of dementia by up to five times, but evidence also suggests that hearing aids may reduce these risks.^[1]
• 70% of people with hearing loss who responded to a survey said that hearing loss sometimes prevented them from fulfilling their potential at work.^[2]
• 35% of business leaders surveyed in a YouGov poll don’t feel confident about employing a person with hearing loss.^[3]
• Nine out of ten respondents said background noise was the biggest problem they face when eating out.^[4]
• 87% people with hearing loss have started to watch a programme on-demand and found that it had no subtitles.^[5]
• Less than 10% of respondents rated the provisions at their local cinema as good or excellent.
• 5% of respondents said they would visit the cinema more frequently if provisions were improved.
• 91% of respondents found the number of subtitled screenings in their area inadequate.
• 61% of respondents felt the staff at their local cinema were not aware of their needs.
• 64% of respondents felt the marketing of these provisions at their local cinema was inadequate or inconsistent.^[6]

^[1] Action on Hearing Loss, Facts and Figures 2018
^[2] Action on Hearing Loss, Hidden Disadvantage report
^[3] Action on Hearing Loss, Working for Change report
^[4] Action on Hearing Loss, Speak Easy survey
^[5] Action on Hearing Loss, Progress on Pause report
^[6] Independent Cinema Office, Developing Deaf Audiences in Your Cinema

Organisations

Action on Hearing Loss supports and helps people experiencing hearing loss, so they can take back control and live the live they choose.

BDA is the UK’s leading membership organisation and registered charity run by Deaf people for Deaf people. The BDA delivers a range of services to achieve its aims of empowering Deaf people to overcome difficulties that they face on a daily basis.

National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people.

Sense is a national disability charity that supports people with complex communication needs, including those who are deafblind, to be understood, connected and valued.

Deafblind UK supports people with combined sight and hearing loss to live the lives they want.

Stats

• There are over 11 million people with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability.
• The most commonly-reported impairments are those that affect mobility, lifting or carrying.^[1]
• There are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK. 8 per cent of children are disabled, 19 per cent of working age adults are disabled, 45 per cent of pension age adults are disabled.^[2]
• After housing costs, the proportion of working age disabled people living in poverty (28 per cent) is higher than the proportion of working age non-disabled people (18 per cent).^[3]
• Life costs you £570 more on average a month if you’re disabled.^[4]
• Over a quarter of disabled people say that they do not frequently have choice and control over their daily lives.^[5]
• Around a third of disabled people experience difficulties related to their impairment in accessing public, commercial and leisure goods and services.^[6]
• The spending power of families with at least one disabled person is estimated by the Government to be over £200 billion a year.^[7]
• Disabled audiences are over-represented amongst video buyers.^[8]

^[1] ONS Opinions Survey 2011
^[2] Family Resources Survey 2016/17
^[3] Households Below Average Income, 2015-16
^[4] Scope: The disability price tag
^[5] ONS Opinions Survey 2011
^[6] ONS Opinions Survey 2010
^[7] Department for Work and Pensions
^[8] BFI Audiences Research and Statistics 2015

Organisations

Scope exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else.
Disability Rights UK want a society where everyone can participate equally.

Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE) provides consultancy, training, research and publications on building design and management to meet all user needs, including disabled and older people.

Mind provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.

Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is the UK’s leading charity supporting blind and partially sighted people.

Action on Hearing Loss supports and helps people experiencing hearing loss, so they can take back control and live the live they choose.

Contact supports families with the best possible guidance and information. They bring families together to support each other, and help families to campaign, volunteer and fundraise to improve life for themselves and others.

Disability Arts has an extensive database of cinema and arts organisations

Sensory Trust also has a useful list

Stats

• Almost eight in 10 companies and public-sector bodies pay men more than women^[1]
• 8 million women were working full-time and 6.3 million were working part-time. 42% of women in employment were working part-time compared to 13% of men.^[2]
• The gender mix in UK film casts has not improved since the end of the Second World War.
• In crews the gender mix has improved, but in some departments women still make up less than 10 per cent of senior roles.
• Female actors have tended to make fewer films and have had shorter careers than male actors.
• Unnamed characters who work in high-skilled occupations (e.g. doctor) are much more likely to be portrayed by men than women.
• Films that have one woman in a senior writing or directing role contain relatively more women in their casts.^[3]
• The peak for female representation in film (when women made up 41% of casts) was over 100 years ago, in 1917.^[4]
• In the 100 highest grossing live-action films in the US for the years 2014, -16, Google showed that men were seen and heard almost twice as often as women, with women occupying just 36% of screen time and 35% of speaking time.^[5]
• Since 2005 only 16% of unnamed doctors in UK films have been played by women, despite women now comprising 52% of doctors on the UK’s General Practitioners Register.^[6]
• In film schools, numbers are generally 50:50 men to women, there are equal opportunities and equal training. Women make up 50 per cent of all short films entered into festivals (according to Directors UK) but they seem to drop out, or are pushed out of filmmaking, later in their careers.
• In 2009, 19 per cent of all UK films had no women in any of the six key roles – director, writer, producer, exec-producer, cinematographer or editor.^[7]

^[1] Gender pay gap figures reveal eight in 10 UK firms pay men more, The Guardian 2018
^[2] Women and the Economy, House of Commons Briefing Paper, 2018
^[3] Women in film: what does the data say?, Nesta 2017
^[4] The gender imbalance in UK film casts, Nesta 2017
^[5] Google, in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
^[6] #PressForProgress: Evidencing gender inequality in the arts, Nesta 2017
^[7] Calling the Shots, University of Southampton 2018

Organisations

Women in Film & Television UK is the leading membership organisation for women working in creative media in the UK and part of an international network of over 13,000 women.

Bird’s Eye View is a year round agency that campaigns for gender equality in film Now in its 15th year, BEV spotlights and celebrates films created by women, and supports women working in film through training and events.

Calling the Shots: Women and Contemporary Film Culture in the UK, 2000-2015 is a large Arts and Humanities Research Council funded (£589,710) four-year project researching and writing the contemporary history of women working in the UK film industry.

Club des Femmes is a queer feminist collective. They curate film screenings and events. Their mission is to offer a freed up space for the re-examination of ideas through art.