Children and Young People’s Indicators – November 2016 Update

The Department of Education today published the 2016 Update to the Children and Young People’s Indicators.

A set of strategic indicators was developed under the high level outcomes of the Ten Year Children and Young People’s Strategy 2006-2016 ‘Our Children and Young People – Our Pledge’. The high level outcomes are:

• Healthy
• Economic and environmental well-being
• Enjoying, learning and achieving
• Positive and valued contribution
• Safety and stability

The indicators were first published in the Strategy document in 2006. The purpose of the indicators is to measure the success of the strategy.

Key Findings from the November 2016 update include:

• Healthy: The proportion of babies born weighing less than 2.5kg has tended to only fluctuate slightly from the baseline of 6.1% in 2004. However, of live births in 2015, 6.5% were below 2.5kg, this figure is the highest recorded over the 12 years of monitoring data.
• Economic & Environmental Wellbeing: Absolute child poverty (before housing costs) for 2014/15, at 23%, is one percentage point lower than in 2013/14 (24%). In 2014/15, the percentage of children in relative poverty (before housing costs) increased by two percentage points from the previous year to 25%.
• Enjoying, Learning & Achieving: Over four-fifths (83%) of Year 12 pupils achieved five or more GCSEs (or equivalent) at grades A*-C in 2014/15.  Over the 11 years of data there has been a considerable increase in this level of attainment, going from 61% at baseline (2004/05) to the latest figure of 83%.
• Positive & Valued Contribution: The number of young people aged 17-20 entering custody, including prison/young offenders’ centre and the Juvenile Justice Centre, peaked in 2011 with 327 admissions. Since then this number has declined each year, in the most recent year, 2015, the number of admissions totalled 178, this is a 46% decrease compared to 2011.
• Living in Safety and with Stability: Over the 12 years of monitoring data there has generally been a downward trend in the number of children killed or seriously injured on our roads. In 2015 there were 72 children killed or seriously injured, this was 79 fewer than that the 151 recorded at baseline in 2004.

The full report can be found on the Department of Education website.

Further information relating to the collection and production of the statistics can be obtained by contacting:

Tel: 02891 279241

Email: adele.mccauley@education-ni.gov.uk

Notes to editors: 

Media enquires to the Department of Education’s Communication team on Tel: 028 9127 9207. Out of office hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be returned.

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