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Scottish Household Survey
06/06/2007
Key statistics from the forthcoming 2006 Scottish Household Survey are published today.
The report, Headline Results from the 2006 Scottish Household Survey, provides detailed information about people living in Scotland. The findings are based on interviews carried out with 15,618 households across the country for the the full annual survey, which will be published in August 2007.
The latest figures cover various subjects, including neighbourhood satisfaction, economic activity, transport, recycling, access to the internet, smoking and perceptions of health:
The key findings include:
Housing and neighbourhoods
- Owner-occupation accounts for around two-thirds of the tenure of Scotland's housing. One quarter of households rent from a social landlord, while eight per cent rent from a private landlord. Around two-thirds of single parent families live in rented accommodation, compared with around a quarter of other families.
- 92 per cent of adults feel that their local area is either a 'very good' or 'fairly good' place to live. However, there is considerable variation when local levels of deprivation are taken into account. For example, 73 per cent of those in the least deprived areas rate their neighbourhood as 'very good', whereas only 25 per cent of those in the most deprived areas give their neighbourhood the same rating.
- Adults living in the most deprived areas are much more likely to feel that there are problems in their neighbourhood. For example 43 per cent of adults living in the most deprived areas feel that there is a problem with rubbish and litter and a third that vandalism (33 per cent), rowdy behaviour (32 per cent) and drug misuse or dealing (30 per cent) are common. In contrast, 15 per cent of adults living in the least deprived areas feel that rubbish and litter is a common problem and fewer than one in 10 that vandalism (eight per cent), rowdy behaviour (six per cent) or drug abuse and dealing (three per cent) are common.
Transport and Travel
- A high proportion of adults (63 per cent) travel to work/education in a car or van, either as a driver or passenger. In addition, 16 per cent walk and 13 per cent travel by bus, while only two per cent cycle and four per cent travel by rail. Among those adults in households with an income of over £40,000 per year, just over three quarters (76 per cent) travel by car compared with 29 per cent of those in the lowest income group. The reverse is true for bus travel, just under a quarter (23 per cent) of adults in the lowest income group travel to work or education by bus compared with only seven per cent of those with an income of over £40,000.
- Around half of all school pupils (51 per cent) walk to school. Twenty-four per cent travel by bus, while 21 per cent travel to school in a car or van.
- Just over two-thirds of households (68 per cent) have access to at least one car for private use. Almost all (99 per cent) households with a net annual income over £40,000 a year have access to a car for private use, compared with only 37 per cent of households with a net annual income of £6,000 or less.
- Households with cars in rural areas spend more each month on fuel for cars - 37 per cent of households with cars in accessible rural areas and 31 per cent of households with cars in remote rural areas spend £100 or more on fuel for their cars each month compared with 20 per cent of households with cars in large urban areas.
Access to services
- Just over half of respondents who have access to a car (53 per cent) and less than half (45 per cent) of those who have no access to a car find outpatients departments very or fairly convenient. Adults with access to a car are less likely to say public transport is convenient (83 per cent) compared to those without (94 per cent).
- The type of area impacts on perceptions of convenience of some services. For example, adults living in large urban areas are least likely to find post offices convenient - 84 per cent compared with 94 per cent in remote small towns. Respondents in rural areas are less likely to report that they find public transport, ATMs, and chemists or pharmacists convenient.
- Just under half of all respondents (43 per cent) agree that the services provided by their local council are of high quality.
- Recycling services are used by the majority of households in Scotland; 80 per cent reported that they recycle at least one type of item.
- The majority of 16 to 24 year olds (78 per cent) have access to the internet but access declines with age; 28 per cent of those aged 60-74 and eight per cent of those aged 75 and over have access to the internet. Overall, almost three quarters (73 per cent) of those who access the internet have a broadband connection. However, this is much lower in remote rural areas (57 per cent) compared with urban areas (76 per cent).
Health
- Smoking is more prevalent in the most deprived areas; 41 per cent compared with 12 per cent in the least deprived areas. It is most common among 25 to 34 year old men (34 per cent).
- People living in the most deprived areas are also less likely to report that their health is good - 41 per cent in the most deprived areas compared with 64 per cent in the least deprived areas.
Background
The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is a sample survey, and therefore all figures are estimates rather than precise counts due to sampling variability. Interviews are conducted in two parts, the first with the householder or their partner, and the second with a randomly selected adult member of the household. In the year 2006, interviews were conducted with 15,618 households, and around 14,190 randomly selected adults. The overall response rate to the survey was about 70 per cent.
The publication contains figures relating to economic activity, income and household composition. These are provided to demonstrate the scope of the SHS. However the SHS is not the official source of these figures. The official source of statistics on economic activity is the Labour Force Survey, and the official source of statistics on income is the Family Resources Survey. The General Register Office for Scotland publish figures on household composition using both SHS and Census data.
This publication will be followed by a more detailed annual report on 2 August 2007.
- The Headline Results from the 2006 Scottish Household Survey
are available at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent