The number of stairlifts in Birmingham is not the sort of thing that appears in official statistics, but the figure will undoubtedly be higher than that of any other local authority in the UK.
A simple reason underpins this; with a population of 1,144,000, the city is the largest single local authority in the country, well ahead of second-placed Leeds with 812,000 residents. London may be much larger, but its 8.9 million population is spread over 32 boroughs plus the City.
Cities do tend to have younger populations overall than the country at large, especially due to their high concentrations of students, but the number of over-65s in Birmingham rose by 8.9 per cent over the decade after the previous Census in 2011, compared with an overall population increase of 6.7 per cent.
A population that ages faster than it grows means an increasing proportion of the 1.14 million residents will need support for the effects of old age. But age alone is not a determinant of the need for stairlifts, as this also applies to many younger people with mobility issues.
Birmingham City Council’s figures for 2018-19 on disability noted that across the UK, 21 per cent of Britons reported a disability, the equivalent of 14.1 million and up from 19 per cent (11.3 million) a decade earlier. This applied to 44 per cent of those of pension age (down from 2011 due to a rise in pensionable age).
Of those with disabilities, 9.15 per cent were ‘limited a lot’ by this, including 33.5 per cent of over-65s. Not all of these will have a disability requiring the use of stairlifts, of course, while some will live in single storey-homes anyway.
Nonetheless, put together, a rise in population, rise in the number of older people and an overall increase in disability means there is no doubt the demand for stairlifts in Birmingham will be higher now than a decade ago. If you feel you need one, don’t hesitate to get in touch; you’ll undoubtedly be in very good company.
