Scottish Government

4. Economic activity and finances

The SHS collects data on economic activity and the characteristics of individuals and households in different economic activity categories. The questionnaire also covers household income and other financial areas such as savings and use of credit. It should be noted, however, that the SHS is not designed to provide reliable statistics on unemployment rates and average earnings. The SHS has questions on these topics only for selecting the data of particular groups, such as unemployed or low paid people, for further analysis or for use as background variables when analysing other topics.

The SHS's information about the economic status of members of the household reflects the view of the respondent to the "household" part of the interview, and so may not conform to official definitions of employment and unemployment, for example. The SHS is not directly comparable with the Labour Force Survey ( LFS) - the official source of employment, qualifications and training data in the UK. Household income in the SHS is the income of the householder and partner only, and so is not directly comparable to the Family Resources Survey ( FRS) - the official source of income data in the UK.

Figures 4.1 and 4.2 show the economic activity of adults in Scotland by gender. Almost half (46%) of all men and 28% of women are in full-time employment. Women are more likely than men to be in part-time employment; 18% compared with 3%. A quarter of men (25%) and 28% of women are retired from work. Eleven percent (11%) of women report that they are looking after home and family.

Figure 4.1: Economic activity of adults in Scotland

2006 data, Adult males

2006 data, Adult females

Full-time employment rates are lower in the most deprived areas in Scotland than in the least deprived areas (29% compared with 39%), while a greater proportion of adults in the most deprived areas are permanently sick or disabled; 10% compared with 1% (Table 4.1).

Table 4.2 shows that, among women of working age, single parents are the group least likely to be in full-time employment (20%) and are more likely to describe themselves as 'looking after home and family' (34%) than 'unemployed and seeking work' (9%).

Overall, single pensioner households have the lowest annual household incomes - 89% have an income of less than £15,000 per year with 43% having an income of between £6,000 and £10,000. Most single parent families have an income of less than £20,000 (Table 4.3).

Not including mortgages, almost three quarters (73%) of all households had not used any form of credit to borrow money in the last 12 months, with a bank overdraft (12%) being the most commonly reported method (Table 4.4).

Table 4.1: Economic activity by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile
Column percentages, 2006 data, Adult population

Table 4.2: Economic status of women by household type
Column percentages, 2006 data, Female adults of working age (16-59 years)

Table 4.3: Net annual household income* by household type
Column percentages, 2006 data, Households

* Household income in the SHS is that of the householder and their partner only

Table 4.4: Use of credit to borrow money in the past 12 months by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile
Column percentages, 2006 data, Households