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Facts about Learning Disabilities.
  • The number of adults with learning disabilities aged over 60 is predicted to increase by 36% between 2001 and 2021
  • About 60% of adults with learning disabilities live with their families
  • 17% of people with learning disabilities of working age have a paid job (Foundation for people with Learning disabilities)
  • About 985,000 people in England have a learning disability (about 2% of the population). 796,000 of them are aged 20 or over (Estimating Future Need/Demand for Supports for Adults with Learning Disabilities in England, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University (2004)
  • There are 55,000-75,000 children with a moderate or severe learning disability in England Learning disabilities: facts and figures, Department of Health (accessed online 2007)
  • There are an estimated 210,000 people with severe and profound learning disabilities in England: around 65,000 children and young people, 120,000 adults of working age and 25,000 older people Valuing People, Department of Health (2001)
  • The number of adults with learning disabilities is predicted to increase by 11 per cent between 2001 and 2021. This would raise the number of people in England aged 15 and above with learning disabilities to over one million in 2021. Estimating Future Need/Demand for Supports for Adults with Learning Disabilities in England, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University (2004)
  • The number of adults with learning disabilities aged over 60 is predicted to increase by 36 per cent between 2001 and 2021 Estimating Future Need/Demand for Supports for Adults with Learning Disabilities in England, Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University (2004)
  • The increase in the number of people with a learning disability may be explained by: increased life expectancy, especially among people with Down’s syndrome growing numbers of children and young people with complex and multiple disabilities who now survive into adulthood
  • About 60% of adults with learning disabilities live with their families Valuing People, Department of Health (2001)
  • About one in ten people with learning disabilities who are in touch with services are doing any form of paid work Valuing People – what do the numbers tell us? (2005)
  • About one in 20 people with learning disabilities have an unpaid job Adults with learning difficulties in England 2003/4,National Statistics & NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (2004) Interim Report, Disability Rights Commission (2005)
  • The friends that people with learning disabilities see most often are friends who also have learning disabilities
  • 40 per cent of people say they would like more say in what goes on in their everyday life. all from Adults with learning difficulties in England 2003/4, National Statistics & NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (2004)
  • There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK.
  • Just 1 in 3 people with a learning disability take part in some form of education or training.
  • Children with a learning disability are often socially excluded and 8 out of 10 children with a learning disability are bullied. Only 1 in 12 children with a learning disability get to take part in youth clubs, compared to 1 in 5 for the rest of the population.
  • 58,000 people with a learning disability are supported by day care services. (Mencap)