Census highlights significant differences for men and women in Portsmouth and Havant

It comes as International Women's Day is celebrated this week with women's rights charity The Fawcett Society saying more concerted action is needed to tackle gender inequality in the UK.

The census survey taken across England and Wales in March 2021 shows of the 208,003 usual residents in Portsmouth, 104,840 are women – 50.4% of the area's population.

In Portsmouth, women made up 59.1% of unpaid carers, meaning they were looking after someone because of long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age without compensation.

This is similar to the trend across England and Wales where there are approximately 2.8 million female unpaid carers and approximately 1.9 million male unpaid carers.

Additionally, women in Portsmouth were more likely to have a disability than men, with 20.4% of women stating they were disabled in the census, while 17.8% of men did.

The recent census also revealed 9,275 people in Portsmouth had previously served in the UK armed forces. Just 1,475 (15.9%) of them were women.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said there is not a single ‘sure-fire’ solution to improve gender equality in the UK, but more action is needed.

‘This Government must urgently reform the childcare system so that it is affordable, accessible, and works for women and employers must make flexible work the default,’ she added.

She said: ‘We simply can't allow this Government to stand by as women's hard-fought gains are lost.’

The survey also highlighted women in Portsmouth were more likely than men to identify with a sexuality other than heterosexual. Figures show around 4,560 women in the area (5.3% of women) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexuality, while 3,380 men (4%) did.

Across England and Wales, females (3.3%) were more likely to have identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexual orientation than males (3%).

Census data shows 85.5% of women in the area identified as white, 3.3% as black, 6.9% as Asian, 2.6% as mixed and 1.7% as another ethnicity.

Of the the 124,208 usual residents in Havant, 64,230 (51.7%).

In Havant, women made up 60.2% of unpaid carers and they were more likely to have a disability than men (19.8% to 17.5%).

Additionally, 7,435 people in Havant had served in the UK armed forces – 1,035 (13.9%) were women.

Women were more likely than men to identify with a sexuality other than heterosexual - 1,490 (2.8%) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or another minority sexuality, while 975 men (2%) did.

Census data shows 95.9% of women in the area identified as white, 0.6% as black, 1.8% as Asian, 1.3% as mixed and 0.4% as another ethnicity.