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Public Health Liverpool

Grow well

Children and young people are at the centre of Liverpool’s future sustainability. Understanding the importance of key transition points where significant changes occur, such as moving from primary to secondary school, is important in developing policies and interventions that effectively improve health in early years, and give children the best start in life.

As part of our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, we have developed an interactive dashboard to present key data and insights on the theme of 'Grow Well'.

The Grow well dashboard focuses on indicators related to children and young people aged 5-19 years old. This tool aims to showcase Liverpool data in comparison to national and regional averages, highlighting areas for improvement and intervention.

Topics covered

  • Demographics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Income and labour market
  • Crime
  • Vulnerable children
  • Local community assets (GPs, schools, family hubs, dentists)
  • Ward level data
  • Tartan rug (overview)
  • Index of Multiple Deprivation

Using the dashboard

The homepage provides an overview of all topics covered. On the left-hand side, you'll find tabs for:

  • Summary page: explains the dashboard's purpose and coverage.
  • Navigation page: guides you through the visuals, buttons, and navigation.
  • Resource page: highlights useful resources and programmes.
  • Appendix: contains data sources and an index.

To explore different topics, select the relevant icon on the dashboard homepage. To navigate between topics, either click the house icon at the top left to return to the homepage or use the navigation arrows at the bottom of the report.

Help with using the dashboard

If you're not sure how to use a Power BI dashboard, guidance is available (the guidance opens in a new page).

Key facts

  • Around 28,267 children (33%) in Liverpool live in relative poverty, that's 1 in 3 compared with 1 in 5 (19.8%) nationally.
  • In 2024/25 there were 26,613 children eligible for free school meals (34% compared to 25.7% in England).
  • By the age of 10-11 years, 43.4% of children are overweight or obese, significantly higher than England (36.2%).
  • The number of pupils with special educational needs is significantly increasing. In 2024/25 there were 19,652 children with special educational needs, significantly above the national average (24.7% versus 19.6%) and of these, 3,992 pupils had social, emotional and mental health needs.
  • 1,490 children were in care in 2023/24. The Liverpool rate of 155 per 10,000 was the 4th highest in England.
  • Around 70 children were killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents (2020–22). Liverpool’s rate of 27.8 per 100,000 was 1.7 times the national rate (16.5).
  • Persistent absenteeism rates are significantly above the England average at 17% for primary school children versus 14.6% nationally and 29.4% for secondary school children compared to 25.6% nationally.
  • In 2022, there were 129 teenage conceptions. Liverpool’s under 18 years conception rate of 18.2 conceptions per 1,000 females aged 15-17 years was significantly higher than the 13.9 per 1,000 reported nationally.
  • 897 16-17-year-olds were not in education, employment, or training in 2023/24, which is 1.6 times higher than England (8.4% compared to 5.2%) and the 2nd highest in the core cities.

Drawing on the results of the Trading Standards North West Survey of 14-17 year olds in Liverpool in 2023:

  • The percentage of 14-16 year olds who drink alcohol in Liverpool remains low with younger people increasing adopting a more sensible approach to towards alcohol. There has been a fall in the percentage of young people in Liverpool getting drunk or pretending to be drunk.
  • Levels of tobacco smoking among young people in Liverpool continue to fall, with just 4% of 14-16 year olds claiming to smoke, the lowest level recorded. More than 4 in 5 young people claim to have never tried tobacco smoking. The majority claim to try or start smoking between the ages of 13 and 14 and mainly get their cigarettes from shops or friends.
  • The percentage of young people in Liverpool claiming to have tried or use vapes has increased by 15% since 2015. 14% claim to vape more than once a week, compared to 2% in 2017, and this behaviour is higher amongst girls (21%). Increasingly they are trying vapes either before or instead of tobacco cigarettes. The flavours are a key factor in tempting young people to vape, and also in what they buy. More than 4 in 5 who have tried vaping have friends who vape.

Liverpool City Region

Department of Health & Social Care