Scotland's People, a snapshot of life in Scotland

13th August 2014

A National Statistics Publication for Scotland.

The majority of people in Scotland rate their neighbourhood as a good place to live, have access to the internet and engaged in some type of cultural activity in 2013. Around half are positive about their finances, a quarter have volunteered in the last 12 months and almost one in four adults smoke.

These are just some of the findings from the wide-ranging 2013 Scottish Household Survey which is designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish Households and individuals.

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2013 Annual Report (Scotland’s People). This is a web-only publication and can be found on the Scottish Government Website, at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/08/7973

Some key findings from each chapter of the report are:

Composition

Around half (48 per cent) of all adults are married or in a civil partnership, while around a third (34 per cent) have never have been married or in a civil partnership.
Around a third (34 per cent) of households in Scotland contain only one person, made up of single adults (18 per cent) and single pensioners (16 per cent).
Housing

The private rented sector has shown consistent signs of growth from 5 per cent in 1999 to 13 per cent in 2013.
The social rented sector has declined from 32 per cent in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2013.
Owner occupation has dipped from a high of 66 per cent in 2009 to 61 per cent in 2013.
Neighbourhoods

More than half (55.2 per cent) of adults rated their neighbourhood as a very good place to live in 2013. This continues the trend of consistently high ratings since the survey began in 1999 with over 90 per cent of adults rating their neighbourhood as a very or fairly good place to live.
Overall, prevalence of different types of anti-social behaviour is relatively low, though the most commonly perceived problems were animal nuisance such as noise or dog fouling (31 per cent saying this is very or fairly common in their area) and rubbish or litter lying around (27 per cent).
Economic Activity

A higher proportion of men (58 per cent) than women (49 per cent) were currently in work. Women were more likely to be in part-time employment than men (17 compared with 4 per cent). In contrast, self-employment was more common among men than women (8 and 4 per cent, respectively)
One in five (20 per cent) adults had no qualifications, with those aged 75 and over least likely to have qualifications (48 per cent)
Finance

Around half (48 per cent) of all households reported that they felt positive about their household finances. This figure has remained relatively stable since 2010 after falling from the 2007 peak of 53 per cent
Around one quarter of households (24 per cent) did not have any savings or investments in 2013, with 16 per cent having less than £1,000 savings
Transport

Seven in ten (70 per cent) households have a car available for private use, with those living in rural areas more likely to own at least one car (87 per cent in remote rural areas compared to 60 per cent in large urban areas)
Overall two-thirds of adults aged 17 and over have a driving licence. In all age groups of 25 and over, more males have driving licences than females. The gap between males and females widens with increasing age
Internet

Seventy-eight per cent of Scottish households reported having internet access at home in 2013. This continued the trend of increasing home internet access over the past decade (up from 42 per cent in 2003)
The ways in which people access the internet are becoming increasingly diverse. In particular, the proportion of people accessing the internet on the move using for example a smart phone or a tablet has increased from a quarter (25 per cent) in 2012 to 30 per cent in 2013
Health

Twenty-three per cent of adults were current smokers in 2013, in line with the proportion in the two previous years following a longer term downward trend
Around one third of households in Scotland (34 per cent) contained at least one person with a long-standing illness, health problem or disability
Three quarters of adults (74 per cent) reported that their own health is either 'very good' or 'good', compared to 7 per cent saying their health is either 'bad' or 'very bad'
Local services

Sixty per cent of adults were satisfied with three public services: local health services, schools and public transport
Around one-fifth (22 per cent) of adults agreed that they can influence decisions affecting their local area and just over a third (35 per cent) said they would like to be more involved in the decisions their council makes
Environment

Forty-six per cent of adults in Scotland visited Scotland's outdoors one or more times a week, an increase from 42 per cent in 2012
Less than half of adults (46 per cent) viewed climate change as an immediate and urgent problem while 13 per cent were not convinced that climate change is happening
Volunteering

Twenty-eight per cent of adults volunteered by providing unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months. Levels of volunteering have remained relatively stable over the last 5 years
The type of organisations most commonly volunteered for are youth or children’s organisations (23 per cent), health, disability and social welfare organisations (21 per cent), and children’s activities associated with schools (20 per cent)
Culture and Sport

Around nine-in-ten (91 per cent) adults engaged in culture in 2013, either through attending or visiting a cultural event or place or participating in a cultural activity and is a one percentage point increase from 90 per cent in 2012
Over three-quarters of adults (78 per cent) participated in sport and exercise (including recreational walking) in the last four weeks. This was an increase from 74 per cent in 2012
Around four in five (78 per cent) adults reported their intention to follow the Commonwealth Games in some way (note: all figures refer to data were collected throughout 2013)
The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.


The full statistical publication is available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/08/7973

The SHS is a survey of households across the whole of Scotland, and is designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals on a range of issues. It covers a wide range of key topics including household composition; housing; neighbourhoods and communities; economic activity; finance and childcare; education; transport; internet and broadband; health and caring; local services; volunteering; culture and sport.

Further information on the Scottish Household Survey can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/SHS

Transport Scotland publishes the SHS transport and travel data directly. The Transport and Travel in Scotland (TATIS) annual publication, also published today, includes information on households' access to cars and bikes, frequency of driving, modes of travel to work and school (including an update to the National Indicator), use and opinions of public transport and access to services. From 2014 onwards, TATIS will also include the SHS Travel Diary, covering information about travel by adults, including journey purposes and the means of transport used amongst others: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/publications-stats

Whilst the SHS 2013 annual report does present some estimates related to economic activity, the official source of statistics on employment, unemployment and economic activity is the Labour Force Survey for Scotland and the Annual Population Survey at a local authority level. Results from both surveys are available from the Scottish Government website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market

The Housing Statistics for Scotland 2013: Key Trends Summary will be published on Tuesday 21 August 2014 and provides a comprehensive summary of housing activity in Scotland: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS

From 2012 onwards, the SHS was substantially redesigned and now includes elements of the Scottish House Condition Survey (SHCS) including a follow-up Physical Survey of dwellings. Results of this will be released later in 2014 through the SHCS Key Findings Report and will be available from the SHCS website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SHCS

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff - more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About