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The people JSNA

Tower Hamlets People

Tower Hamlets has a comparatively young and growing population, estimated to number 334,828 people in 2021. This is expected to reach 374,800 by 2030.

The 2021 population projections from the Greater London Authority (GLA) indicate:

  • 21,296 (6.4 per cent) are aged 0 to 4 years old
  • 50,613 (15.1 per cent) are aged 5 to 19 years old
  • 151,077 (45.1 per cent) are aged 20 to 39 years old
  • 84126 (25.1 per cent) are aged 40 to 64 years old
  • 27,716 (8.3 per cent) are aged 65 and over.

There are more male residents (52.1 per cent) than female residents (47.9 per cent)  and 4 in 10 residents were born outside the UK. The largest ethnic groups in Tower Hamlets are White British (31 per cent) and Bangladeshi (32 per cent).

Life Expectancy

The years of life those born in Tower Hamlets can expect to live in good health is termed healthy life expectancy (HLE).

  • HLE for males in Tower Hamlets is 60.5 years (ONS, 2019), this has increased from 55.4 years in 2014 but remains below the national average of 63.1 years.
  • HLE for females is 65.3 years (ONS, 2019), this has increased from 56.4 years in 2014 and is now just above the national average of 63.6 years.

The overall number of years those born in Tower Hamlets are expected to live is termed life expectancy:

  • Life expectancy for males in Tower Hamlets is 79.3 years (ONS, 2019) which is the same as the national average.

This population is highly diverse and mobile, rapidly changing due to trends in national and international migration. Although young in comparison to the wider UK population, the population in Tower Hamlets is also aging, with the number of infants and children relatively static and largest growth in those aged 40-64 and 65+.

  • Life expectancy for females in Tower Hamlets is 84.5 years (ONS, 2019) which is above the national average of 82.9 years.

As seen across London, life expectancy has risen in Tower Hamlets over the past 20 years:

  • In 2000 males in Tower Hamlets were expected to live 3.3 years less than the national average, whereas this gap has now closed so they are expected to live the same length of time as the national average.
  • In 2000, females were expected to live 1.8 years less than the national average, whereas they are now expected to live 1.6 years longer than the national average.

Wellbeing

8.1 per cent of people in Tower Hamlets are estimated to have a poor happiness score compared to 7.8 per cent of people in London as a whole.

Self-reported wellbeing, measured as people with a high anxiety score is 17.9 per cent, which is better than the London average of 21 per cent and national average of 19.7 per cent.

Poverty

Between 2015 and 2019, Tower Hamlets experienced a 22 per cent decrease in proportion of neighbourhoods ranked in the most deprived decile of deprivation in England (IMD, 2019).

This was the greatest upward change of any local authority in England, reflecting the rapidly changing economic and demographic situation of the borough.

These changes in deprivation are not however evenly spread throughout all populations in borough.

The proportion of older people experiencing income-deprivation remains the highest in England at 43.9 per cent. In addition, 26.6 per cent of children in Tower Hamlets live in income-deprived families, which is 14th highest amongst boroughs in England.

Employment

Around two-thirds (67 per cent) of the working age population in Tower Hamlets are in employment, with a 26 per cent not in formal employment due to caring responsibilities, illness or studying and 7 per cent unemployed and seeking work. This employment rate is 7 per cent below the average rate in London.

As of 2019, 85 per cent of males were in formal employment compared to 61 per cent of females. This also varied by ethnicity, with 74 per cent of White women in formal employment compared to 38 per cent of women who are Black, Asian or of another minority ethnic group.