Darfield ward profile

Darfield is home to 10,685 people, or 4.6% of Barnsley’s total population. Just over 63% of residents are of working age, which is slightly lower than both the regional and national averages. However, Darfield has slightly more residents aged 60 and over than the national and regional averages, with almost one quarter of residents falling into this age group.

98% of the local population is white, and almost 97% were born in the UK. The largest single minority group consists of those born elsewhere in the EU, who makes up 1.7% of the population.

Almost 70% of residents have a religion, slightly more than the national average, with Christians the largest group by far. Less than 1% of local people belong to other mainstream religions, compared to a national average of over 8%. There are only 1.5% of households in Darfield contain nobody who has English as a main language, compared to 4.4% nationally.

Household information

Just over half of Darfield’s adult population is married, compared to a national average of 46.6%, and 63.9% are living in couples. Darfield has fewer single person households than the national and regional averages and 69.5% are made up of one family, compared to a national average of 61.8%. Two thirds of local homes are privately owned, more than the national average of 63.3%. 16.9% of households live in social rented accommodation and 14.2% rent from private landlords, with both figures slightly below the national and regional averages. Over 99% of homes are centrally heated and over 43% of households have at least one car, slightly more than the national and regional averages.

Health

Just over three quarters of local residents rate their health as ‘very good’ or ‘good’, compared to a regional average of 80% and a national average of 81.4%. 8% think their health is ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, compared to 6% across Yorkshire and Humber and only 5.4% nationally. The percentage of people who provide unpaid care for between 1 and 49 hours a week is roughly the same as the national average. However, 3.6% of resident provide unpaid care for over 50 hours a week, which is higher than the national average of 2.4%.

Education and work

Almost 32% of Darfield’s population has no educational qualifications, significantly more than both the regional average of 25.8% and the national average of 22.5%. Fewer than 17% have a degree-level qualification or higher, compared to 23.3% regionally and more than 27% nationally. 65.8% of local residents are economically active, more than 4% below the national average. 34.2% are classed as economically inactive, of which 6.8% are long term sick or disabled, compared to a national average of only 4%.

The largest single employment category in Darfield is wholesale and retail trade, which accounts for 17.6% of workers. Only 5.8% are in higher managerial, administrative, and professional occupations, almost half the national average. Over 34% work in semi-routine or routine occupations, compared to only 25% nationally.