The Northern Ireland Statistics Agency has released further table breakdowns on the 2001 census requested by users, which show some interesting trends among the main religions.The “all persons aged of working age in employment” table shows that in the 16-74 age group, Catholics make up 35.1% of those in “higher managerial and professional occupations”.
However, in the 16-40 age group this rises to 41.8% while in the same grouping, Catholics account for 50% of “small employers and own account workers”.
In the 60-65 group, only 26.1% of higher management is Catholic while 36.4% are small employers.
Catholics also make up 51.5% of all full-time students in the 16-40 group but worryingly 63.1% of those who have “never worked” and 60.8% of those considered “long-term unemployed”.
The table from all persons of working age shows that while numbering 42.4% of those working in “further and higher” education, Catholics make up 49.7% of those in “other teaching professions”.
The “All economically active persons of working age” table shows that Catholics make up 41.5% of the overall working age population but 48% of those aged 16-24 as opposed to 35.4% of those in the 45-64 age group.