Our Population: Perceptions of the Outcomes Framework 2018/19

Date published: 17 October 2019

The Executive Office today published the ‘Our Population: Perceptions of the Outcomes Framework 2018/19 statistical bulletins.

Following the 2016 report ‘Our Population: What Matters Most?’, which aimed to explore the day-to-day issues that were most important to the people of Northern Ireland, a framework of 12 Outcomes was developed using the responses from this survey.

These new publications, ‘Our Population: Perceptions of the Outcomes Framework’ bulletins seek to gather information on public perceptions around Northern Ireland’s current position in relation to each of the Outcomes. This information is complementary to the formal tracking of NI population indicators to help assess NI’s progress towards the Outcomes.

Key findings

Outcomes 12 (we give our children and young people the best start in life) and 8 (we care for others and we help those in need) had the highest rates of agreement (71% and 70% respectively).

Outcomes 7 (we have a safe community where we respect the law, and each other) and 2 (we live and work sustainably - protecting the environment) had the highest rates of disagreement (38% and 37% respectively).

At 26%, the Outcome with the highest proportion of neutral responses was Outcome 1 (we prosper through a strong, regionally balanced economy).

People’s attitudes towards the Outcomes were different depending on their: age, sex, religion, disability, employment status, urban/rural locality, deprivation, qualifications and marital status. No differences were found based on the responsibility people had for dependents.

The highest agreement rates across the population groups were found in Outcome 12 (we give our children and young people the best start in life): both those with no qualifications and those who were widowed/civil partner died had an 80% agreement rate.

The highest disagreement rates were both found in Outcome 7 (we have a safe community where we respect the law and each other): those who were divorced/civil partnership legally dissolved had a disagreement rate of 49%, followed by those who were married/in a civil partnership and separated at 47%.

Whether or not a respondent had a disability was the characteristic which most frequently resulted in a significance difference. This occurred in 11 of the 12 Outcomes. In each of these Outcomes, those with a disability always had a mean score which was significantly lower than those without a disability.

The bulletins and associated data tables are available on the Statistics and Research section of the Executive Office website: www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/publications/our-population-perceptions-outcomes-framework-1819