Mnemonic: health_in_general
Applicability: Person
Type: Standard variable
Definition
A person's assessment of the general state of their health from very good to very bad. This assessment is not based on a person's health over any specified period of time.
Classification
Total number of categories: 6
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Very good health |
| 2 | Good health |
| 3 | Fair health |
| 4 | Bad health |
| 5 | Very bad health |
| -8 | Does not apply* |
*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time.
View all general health classifications.
Question asked
How is your health in general?
- Very good
- Good
- Fair
- Bad
- Very bad
The question and options that people could choose from were the same in Census 2021 and the 2011 Census.
Background
Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.
Why we ask the question
The answer helps communities by allowing local authorities to understand the health needs of the people in their area. For example, if a person feels that they have poor health, they may be more likely to use NHS services in the future. Local authorities can use this information to help decide which services and resources the people in their community need.
This information can help develop and monitor policies that affect the way that public bodies provide healthcare and aim to reduce health inequalities. It will help public bodies measure progress towards their aim of improving the general health of people in their area and the rest of the UK.
The census first asked this question in 2001.
Comparability with the 2011 Census
Highly comparable
What does highly comparable mean?
A variable that is highly comparable means that it can be directly compared with the variable from the 2011 Census. The questions and options that people could choose from may be slightly different, for example the order of the options may be swapped around, but the data collected is the same.
England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland comparisons
Highly comparable
What does highly comparable mean?
A variable that is highly comparable means that it can be directly compared with the variable from Scotland and Northern Ireland. The questions and options that people could choose from may be slightly different, for example the order of the options may be swapped around, but the data collected is the same.
Find out more about variables produced for Census 2021 in Northern Ireland and Census 2022 in Scotland.
Census 2021 data that uses this variable
We use variables from Census 2021 data to show findings in different ways.
You can:
- get the general health dataset
- view general health data on a map
- read about how an area has changed in 10 years
- view general health data for an area on Nomis (an Office for National Statistics service)
Alternatively, you can also create a custom dataset.
Other datasets that use this variable
- General health, age-standardised proportions
- Economic activity status by provision of unpaid care by general health
- Ethnic group by provision of unpaid care by general health
- General health by car or van availability by sex
- General health by ethnic group by age
- General health by NS-SEC
- General health by religion by age
- General health by tenure by age
- Disability by general health by age
- Provision of unpaid care by general health by households with people who have a disability
- Provision of unpaid care by general health by age
- Veterans by general health
- General health by ability to speak Welsh by age
- Gender identity by general health
- Sexual orientation by general health
- Number of non-UK born short-term residents by general health
- General health (parishes)
- Cornish national identity by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Kashmiri ethnic group by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Nepali (includes Gurkha) ethnic group by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Ravidassia religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Sikh religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Jain religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by provision of unpaid care by economic activity by general health
- Cornish national identity by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Kashmiri ethnic group by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Nepali (includes Gurkha) ethnic group by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Ravidassia religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Sikh religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Jain religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by general health by provision of unpaid care
- Out of term-time population by general health
- Workday population by general health
- Workplace population by general health
- Origin and destination of migrants by general health (lower tier local authorities)
- Origin and destination of migrants by general health (upper tier local authorities)
- Origin and destination of migrants by general health by age