« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
CHAPTER SEVEN WHERE DO PEOPLE WITH POOR SKILLS LIVE? - HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
We investigated the relationship between survey participants' literacy and numeracy skills and their experience of the housing market, their likelihood of being homeless and engagement with their local community.
Women with poor skills, and those living within the Central Belt, were more likely to have experienced a spell of homelessness (10% with SCQF Access Level 2 or 3 literacy, 3% with SCQF Level 5 literacy)
Early moves
By the age of 16 or 17, 8% of men and 9% of women in Scotland had left the family home. Women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were the most likely to have left home early.
But by the time cohort members were 34, men and women with SCQF Level 5 or higher skills were the most likely to have moved home several times - often because they wanted a bigger or better home, for reasons to do with work or as a result of a relationship breakdown. People with literacy and numeracy difficulties were the least likely to have moved for the first two reasons. For example, just 3% of men and women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy had moved at least twice because of their work, but this increased to 16% for men and 14% for women with SCQF Level 5 or higher literacy.
Housing at age 34
As in their childhood, 34-year-olds with skills at or below SCQF Level 3 were more likely to live in poor housing conditions than those with greater competence. As many as 62% of women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy rented their homes, compared to 17% of women with Level 5 literacy.
Within the Central Belt, with its relatively high house prices, men and women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy were nearly four times more likely to live in overcrowded accommodation than those with Level 5 skills (34%, compared to 9%).
Homelessness
4% of all men and 6% of all women surveyed had experienced at least one spell of homelessness. But women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy or SCQF Level 2 numeracy were more than four times as likely to have experienced homelessness as those with SCQF Level 5 or higher skills (13% to 3% literacy, 8% to 1% numeracy). There were no differences in levels of homelessness for men in different skills groups.
Again, differences between groups were most noticeable in the Central Belt, where 10% of 34-year-olds with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy had been homeless at least once, compared to 3% of those with Level 5 or higher literacy.
Local environment
Adults with low levels of literacy and numeracy were more conscious of graffiti, less likely to trust their neighbours or to feel safe living in their own area than people with higher level skills.
Community involvement
While more than 1 in 2 people with SCQF Level 5 literacy or numeracy skills belonged to some sort of community, charitable or other group, this fell to around 1 in 4 of those with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy. Community involvement was rarer still among adults with these skills levels living in the Central Belt.
Political engagement
Around 1 in 3 adults living in Scotland did not vote in the 2001 General Election. But this proportion increased to more than 1 in 2 of men with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy or SCQF Level 2 numeracy (53%). There were no differences between women across skills groups.
We also found that both men and women with SCQF Level 2 or 3 literacy and SCQF Level 2 numeracy were at least twice as likely as those with SCQF Level 5 skills to say they were 'not at all' interested in politics.
Conclusions
People with the poorest literacy and numeracy were the least likely to have taken advantage of the buoyant housing market of recent years. They were most likely to be living in overcrowded, rented housing and to have been homeless at some stage.
Men and women with skills at or below SCQF Level 3 were also likely to feel dissatisfied with their local environment and to distrust their neighbours. They were generally less engaged with their community and less interested in politics than those with better skills.
« Previous | Contents | Next »