The line graph compares the percentage of children by four age groups in the total young population in the UK from 1990 to 2001.
Overall, while the proportions of infants (0-4 years old) and youths (15-19 years old) were a downward trend, the opposite was true for children from 5-9 years old and 10-14 years old in the period shown. In addition, the rate of children between 10 and 14 years old witnessed the most dramatic change, exceeding the figure for the remaining three age groups in 2001.
In 1990, just over 26% of the UK teenagers were 15 to 19 years old, which was the highest, followed by the age group 0-4 years old, standing under 26%. Over the subsequent 10 years, the percentage of children 0-4 years saw a steady increase, reaching a peak of around 26.5% in 1992 before decreasing sharply to under 24% in 2001. By contrast, the figure for adolescents 15-19 years old went down quickly to just over 23% in 1993, and gradually rose to exactly 25% in 2001.
In terms of age groups 5-9 and 10-14, in 1990, the proportion of teenagers from 10 to 14 years old was the lowest, at just 23%, compared to around 24,5% youth 5-9 years old. During the next 11 years, there was a dramatic rise in the percentage of 10 to 14 years youngster’s, at over 26% in 2001, becoming the most popular in the total young population in the UK. Whereas the figure for 5-9 years children experienced a slight growth, ranking the second in four age groups, accounted for under 25%.