"Poorer health generally reduces the possibility of better life outcomes and opportunities. It can restrict employment prospects, reduce earnings and bring additional living costs associated with long-term illness and disability that must somehow be met. In turn, this can lead to living in deprivation, low income and poverty." — JRF poverty report 2023.

This is the Health spotlight page for North West.

Key indicators

The following analysis reflects the experience across the population of North West.

Students eligible for free school meals in state-funded schools

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals at different tyes of state-funded schools in North West.

Dataset

School pupil characteristics
Total
State-funded nursery
State-funded primary
State-funded secondary
State-funded special school
State-funded alternative provision school
Year2015/162016/172017/182018/192019/202020/212021/222022/23Percentage of students eligible010203040506070Total 201516: 8Total 201617: 7.8Total 201718: 7.8Total 201819: 8.8Total 201920: 9.8Total 202021: 11.6Total 202122: 12.4Total 202223: 13.1State-funded nursery 201516: 1.3State-funded nursery 201617: 1.1State-funded nursery 201718: 0.8State-funded nursery 201819: 1.1State-funded nursery 201920: 1State-funded nursery 202021: 1.1State-funded nursery 202122: 1.7State-funded nursery 202223: 1.7State-funded primary 201516: 16.4State-funded primary 201617: 16.1State-funded primary 201718: 16.1State-funded primary 201819: 18State-funded primary 201920: 20.2State-funded primary 202021: 24.2State-funded primary 202122: 25.5State-funded primary 202223: 26.5State-funded secondary 201516: 14.5State-funded secondary 201617: 14.4State-funded secondary 201718: 14.3State-funded secondary 201819: 16.1State-funded secondary 201920: 18.2State-funded secondary 202021: 21.2State-funded secondary 202122: 23.4State-funded secondary 202223: 25.1State-funded special school 201516: 35.3State-funded special school 201617: 35.2State-funded special school 201718: 35State-funded special school 201819: 36.8State-funded special school 201920: 38.5State-funded special school 202021: 41.3State-funded special school 202122: 41.8State-funded special school 202223: 43.2State-funded alternative provision school 201516: 43.1State-funded alternative provision school 201617: 42.1State-funded alternative provision school 201718: 44.3State-funded alternative provision school 201819: 46.7State-funded alternative provision school 201920: 47.1State-funded alternative provision school 202021: 53.2State-funded alternative provision school 202122: 53.8State-funded alternative provision school 202223: 58

Personal wellbeing - happiness

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of people who responded as poor, fair, good, and very good to the question "Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?" in North West.

Dataset

Personal wellbeing
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
TimePercentage of population01020304050Poor 2011-12: 11.17Poor 2012-13: 11.07Poor 2013-14: 10.76Poor 2014-15: 10.07Poor 2015-16: 10.09Poor 2016-17: 9.74Poor 2017-18: 8.83Poor 2018-19: 8.21Poor 2019-20: 9.43Poor 2020-21: 10.25Poor 2021-22: 9.17Fair 2011-12: 18.89Fair 2012-13: 18.53Fair 2013-14: 17.73Fair 2014-15: 16.73Fair 2015-16: 16.93Fair 2016-17: 16.59Fair 2017-18: 16.5Fair 2018-19: 16.08Fair 2019-20: 16.19Fair 2020-21: 18.52Fair 2021-22: 16.98Good 2011-12: 38.68Good 2012-13: 39.67Good 2013-14: 39.96Good 2014-15: 39.33Good 2015-16: 39.78Good 2016-17: 39.55Good 2017-18: 40.11Good 2018-19: 40.44Good 2019-20: 40.13Good 2020-21: 41.87Good 2021-22: 41.17Very good 2011-12: 31.26Very good 2012-13: 30.73Very good 2013-14: 31.55Very good 2014-15: 33.87Very good 2015-16: 33.2Very good 2016-17: 34.11Very good 2017-18: 34.56Very good 2018-19: 35.27Very good 2019-20: 34.24Very good 2020-21: 29.36Very good 2021-22: 32.68

Personal wellbeing - worthwhile

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of people who responded as poor, fair, good, and very good to the question "Overall, to what extent do you feel that the things you do in your life are worthwhile?" in North West.

Dataset

Personal wellbeing
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
TimePercentage of population0102030405060Poor 2011-12: 5.09Poor 2012-13: 4.91Poor 2013-14: 4.94Poor 2014-15: 4.37Poor 2015-16: 4.15Poor 2016-17: 4.19Poor 2017-18: 3.63Poor 2018-19: 3.76Poor 2019-20: 4.14Poor 2020-21: 4.96Poor 2021-22: 4.54Fair 2011-12: 15.25Fair 2012-13: 14.78Fair 2013-14: 14.52Fair 2014-15: 13.12Fair 2015-16: 13.94Fair 2016-17: 12.85Fair 2017-18: 12.08Fair 2018-19: 12.11Fair 2019-20: 12.5Fair 2020-21: 13.12Fair 2021-22: 13.56Good 2011-12: 48.1Good 2012-13: 48.64Good 2013-14: 47.7Good 2014-15: 46.74Good 2015-16: 47.25Good 2016-17: 47.59Good 2017-18: 47.42Good 2018-19: 47.91Good 2019-20: 47.7Good 2020-21: 50.42Good 2021-22: 48.16Very good 2011-12: 31.55Very good 2012-13: 31.67Very good 2013-14: 32.84Very good 2014-15: 35.77Very good 2015-16: 34.65Very good 2016-17: 35.37Very good 2017-18: 36.87Very good 2018-19: 36.21Very good 2019-20: 35.66Very good 2020-21: 31.5Very good 2021-22: 33.74

Personal wellbeing - life-satisfaction

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of people who responded as poor, fair, good, and very good to the question "On a scale where 0 is “not at all anxious” and 10 is “completely anxious”, overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?" in North West.

Dataset

Personal wellbeing
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
TimePercentage of population0102030405060Poor 2011-12: 6.92Poor 2012-13: 6.39Poor 2013-14: 6.96Poor 2014-15: 5.54Poor 2015-16: 6.2Poor 2016-17: 5.42Poor 2017-18: 4.55Poor 2018-19: 4.9Poor 2019-20: 5.34Poor 2020-21: 6.99Poor 2021-22: 5.43Fair 2011-12: 18.18Fair 2012-13: 17.94Fair 2013-14: 16.79Fair 2014-15: 16.05Fair 2015-16: 15.33Fair 2016-17: 14.91Fair 2017-18: 13.87Fair 2018-19: 13.67Fair 2019-20: 14.5Fair 2020-21: 17.63Fair 2021-22: 15.82Good 2011-12: 48.94Good 2012-13: 49.35Good 2013-14: 49.66Good 2014-15: 49.29Good 2015-16: 50Good 2016-17: 50.85Good 2017-18: 51.57Good 2018-19: 50.57Good 2019-20: 50.03Good 2020-21: 50.93Good 2021-22: 52.16Very good 2011-12: 25.96Very good 2012-13: 26.32Very good 2013-14: 26.59Very good 2014-15: 29.12Very good 2015-16: 28.47Very good 2016-17: 28.82Very good 2017-18: 30.01Very good 2018-19: 30.86Very good 2019-20: 30.14Very good 2020-21: 24.45Very good 2021-22: 26.58

Personal wellbeing - anxiety

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of people who responded as poor, fair, good, and very good to the question "Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?" in North West.

Dataset

Personal wellbeing
Poor
Fair
Good
Very good
TimePercentage of population01020304050Poor 2011-12: 22.44Poor 2012-13: 21.63Poor 2013-14: 20.66Poor 2014-15: 20.59Poor 2015-16: 20.03Poor 2016-17: 20.76Poor 2017-18: 20.36Poor 2018-19: 19.62Poor 2019-20: 21.92Poor 2020-21: 25.7Poor 2021-22: 24.01Fair 2011-12: 18.22Fair 2012-13: 17.58Fair 2013-14: 16.33Fair 2014-15: 15.96Fair 2015-16: 16.78Fair 2016-17: 15.98Fair 2017-18: 15.43Fair 2018-19: 15.09Fair 2019-20: 15.81Fair 2020-21: 17.51Fair 2021-22: 16.25Good 2011-12: 22.9Good 2012-13: 22.66Good 2013-14: 22.28Good 2014-15: 21.99Good 2015-16: 22.62Good 2016-17: 22.71Good 2017-18: 22.43Good 2018-19: 21.84Good 2019-20: 21.08Good 2020-21: 22.5Good 2021-22: 22.77Very good 2011-12: 36.44Very good 2012-13: 38.14Very good 2013-14: 40.74Very good 2014-15: 41.47Very good 2015-16: 40.57Very good 2016-17: 40.56Very good 2017-18: 41.78Very good 2018-19: 43.46Very good 2019-20: 41.18Very good 2020-21: 34.29Very good 2021-22: 36.96