HOUSEHOLD SURVEY REVEALS SOME INTERESTING FACTS

Around half are positive about their finances, a quarter have volunteered in the last 12 months and one in five adults smoke cigarettes.

These are just some of the findings from the wide-ranging 2014 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) 2014 Annual Report (Scotland’s People). This is a web-only publication and can be found on the Scottish Government Website, at www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/08/3720

Some key findings from each chapter of the report are:

Composition

Around half (47 per cent) of all adults are married and living with a spouse, while around a third (35 per cent) have never been married or in a civil partnership

Around two thirds (64 per cent) of households in Scotland are either a house or bungalow

Housing

The total number of households in Scotland has increased by 11 per cent from 2.19 million in 1999 to 2.42 million in 2014

The private rented sector has shown consistent signs of growth from 5 per cent of all households in 1999 to 14 per cent in 2014

The social rented sector has declined from 32 per cent of all households in 1999 to 23 per cent in 2007, remaining around this level since, with 24 per cent in 2014.

Owner occupation has dipped from a high of 66 per cent of all households in 2009 to 60 per cent in 2014

Neighbourhoods

More than half (55.8 per cent) of adults rated their neighbourhood as a very good place to live in 2014. 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 behaviours are relatively low with the most commonly perceived problem continuing to be animal nuisance (noise or fouling) – 31 per cent of adults said it is very or fairly common.

Economic Activity

A higher proportion of men (58 per cent) than women (50 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 3 per cent, respectively).

Just under one in five (18 per cent) adults had no qualifications, with those aged 75 and over least likely to have qualifications (49 per cent)

Finance

Between 2013 and 2014 there has been an increase in the proportion of households reporting that they felt positive about their household finances increasing from 48 per cent in 2013 to over half (52 per cent) in 2014

One quarter of households (25 per cent) reported not having any savings or investments in 2014 though around half (53 per cent) of households reported having savings of £1,000 or more

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 59 per cent in large urban areas)

Overall around two-thirds (68 per cent) of adults aged 17 and over have a driving licence. In all age groups, more men had driving licences than women with the gap widening as age increases. The gap between males and females has fallen since 1999 from 26 percentage points in 1999 to around 14 percentage points in 2012

Internet

Eighty per cent of Scottish households reported having internet access at home in 2014. This continued the trend of increasing home internet access over the past decade (up from 42 per cent in 2003)

The diversification of the way people access the internet is one of the largest changes from 2013. More people are using internet on the move across age groups and income bands. Fewer people are using laptops and computers to connect while other means of access such as tablets have increased, particularly amongst the relatively young and the very old

Health

Twenty per cent of adults were current cigarette smokers in 2014, a reduction from 23 per cent of adults in each of the three previous years and from 31 per cent in 1999

Four in ten (39 per cent) households in Scotland contain at least one person with a long-term condition

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

In 2014, 62 per cent of adults were satisfied with three public services: local health services, schools and public transport

In 2014, 23 per cent of adults agreed that they can influence decisions affecting their local area, the highest level since the question was introduced in 2007. Around one-third (34 per cent) said they would like to be more involved in the decisions their council makes

Environment

Around half of adults visited the outdoors at least once a week in the last year (48 per cent). Only 32 per cent of adults that were aged 75 or older visited the outdoors once a week

Less than half of adults (45 per cent) viewed climate change as an immediate and urgent problem. Eight per cent felt it was not really a problem and 11 per cent were not convinced that climate change is happening

Volunteering

Levels of volunteering have remained relatively stable over the last 5 years, with around three in ten adults providing unpaid help to organisations or groups. In 2014, 27 per cent of adults provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months

The type of organisations most commonly volunteered for are youth / children organisations (22 per cent), followed by those working with health, disability and social welfare organisations (21 per cent)

Culture and Sport

Around nine-in-ten (91 per cent) adults engaged in culture in 2013 and 2014, either by attending or visiting a cultural event or place or participating in a cultural activity

Over three-quarters of adults (78 per cent) participated in sport and exercise (including recreational walking) in the last four weeks. This was the same as in 2013

Four in ten adults (40 per cent) in 2014 believed that hosting the Commonwealth Games in Scotland would provide lasting benefits (either to them and their family or their local area)

Young People

Around nine-in-ten households (91 per cent) with young children have access to some form of play areas within their neighbourhood

Generally, households with young children within rural areas are more likely to say children would be very safe or fairly safe when walking or cycling to play areas on their own

Around three-quarters (76 per cent) of young people aged 8 to 21 take part in some form of activity regularly, with the majority of young people (55 per cent) taking part in a sports or sporting activity

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.