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2007 Scottish Household Survey
07/08/2008
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the 2007 Scottish Household Survey Annual Report. This contains national results and results for subgroups of the population on a number of key topics including household composition; housing; neighbourhoods and communities; economic activity; financial inclusion; education; transport; internet and broadband; health and caring; local services; volunteering; culture and sport.
Some of the main results from the survey, set out in more detail in the main report, are:
Household composition
- 51 per cent of adults are married and living with a spouse, while 23 per cent are single and have never been married
- 32 per cent of households in Scotland contain only one adult
Housing
- Owner occupation is the predominant tenure for most household types, the notable exception being for single parent households (31 per cent) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, single adult households (49 per cent)
- The private rented sector has shown small but consistent signs of growth from 5 per cent in 1999 to 10 per cent in 2007
- The 15 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland are characterised by high concentrations of social housing, with 53 per cent of households in the social rented sector; compared to 17 per cent in the rest of Scotland
Neighbourhoods and communities
- 93 per cent of adults rate their neighbourhood as a very or fairly good place to live. Neighbourhood rating is one of the Government's national performance indicators. This percentage has not changed a great deal since the first Scottish Household Survey in 1999
- 26 per cent of adults in the 15 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland rated their Neighbourhood as 'very good' compared with 58 per cent of those in the rest of Scotland
- 72 per cent of adults feel very or fairly safe when walking alone in their local neighbourhood after dark. This percentage has not changed a great deal since the question was added to the Scottish Household Survey in 2002
Finance
- 21 per cent of households have an annual net household income of £10,000 or less
- 41 per cent of households do not have any savings or investments
- 52 per cent of households say they manage their finances very or quite well
Education
- 25 per cent of adults have no qualifications
- 92 per cent of all parents with school aged children were satisfied with the education provided by their child's school
Transport and travel
- The percentage of adults travelling to work by car has increased from 67 per cent in 2006 to 69 per cent in 2007. This measurement is the basis of the Government's national performance indicator on journeys to work by public or active transport
- 70 per cent of households have a car available for private use: 42 per cent in the lowest earning households and 98 per cent in the highest
Internet
- 57 per cent of households have home internet access: 64 per cent in remote rural areas compared to 54 per cent in large urban areas
- 36 per cent of households in the 15 per cent most deprived areas of Scotland have home Internet access compared to 61 per cent in the rest of Scotland
- 49 per cent of households have a broadband Internet connection: 22 per cent in the lowest earning households and 86 per cent in the highest
Health and caring
- An estimated 24.7 per cent of adults smoked in 2007, a small decrease on the estimated 25.0 per cent who smoked in 2006. Since its introduction in 1999 the SHS has charted a general downwards trend in the proportion of adults who smoke. The 2007 proportion is a 5.7 percentage points reduction on 1999. The percentage of adults who smoke is one of the Government's national performance indicators, with the aim of reducing the percentage of the adult population who smoke to 22 per cent by 2010
- 54 per cent of adults felt their health was good over the last year: 42 per cent in the 15 per cent most deprived areas compared to 56 per cent in the rest of Scotland
Local services
- 58 per cent of adults are satisfied with local health services, local schools and public transport. This is the first year that this data, which forms the basis of the Government's national performance indicator on perceptions of public services, has been collected
- 82 per cent of adults are very or fairly satisfied with local health services; 79 per cent very or fairly satisfied with local schools and 70 per cent very or fairly satisfied with public transport
- 41 per cent of adults agree that their council provides high quality services, and older people were more likely to agree than younger people
- 84 per cent of households have used recycling facilities in the past month, with the recycling of items clearly related to the type of property in which households live
Volunteering
- 30 per cent of adults have provided unpaid help to organisations or individuals in the last 12 months
Culture and sport
- 73 per cent of adults participated in cultural activities during the last 12 months. Participation in many of the cultural activities declines with age
- 74 per cent of adults attended cultural events or visited cultural places in the last 12 months. Again, non-attendance increases with age
- 71 per cent of adults participated in sport (including recreational walking) in the last four weeks. The percentage of women was lower than the corresponding figure for men (69 per cent versus 74 per cent)
National statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff,