Scotland's People Annual Report: Results from 2011 Scottish Household Survey

A National Statistics publication for Scotland, providing reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, behaviour and attitudes of Scottish households and adults across a number of topic areas including local government, neighbourhoods and transport.


2 The Composition and Characteristics of Households and Adults in Scotland

Introduction and context

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) collects information from the household respondent about all household members including children. This information is used principally for selecting the data of particular groups for further cross-cutting analysis or for use as background variables when analysing other topics.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) uses the SHS to publish household estimates based on SHS data. Estimates of total numbers of households derived from the SHS 2011, using the household grossing weight[27], are the same as the 2011 household estimates from NRS. Estimates for particular types of household, as described in this chapter, are likely to differ from NRS due to differences in weighting.

The characteristics of adults and the Highest Income Householder (HIH)[28] are used in this report as variables to examine SHS questions in the chapters that follow. The age and number of people in the household are combined in 'household type', a variable which is used to examine the relationship of household composition with a number of different topics throughout this report.

To set the scene for the subsequent analysis, this chapter briefly presents information on selected characteristics of all household members and of adults. It examines household types and considers the relationship between household type and degree of rurality.

Main Findings

  • Just under half (49%) of adults are married and living with a spouse, while just over a third (34%) have never been married or in a civil partnership.
  • The majority of adults (96.8%) are of white ethnic origin, with Scottish being the predominant ethnic group (80.3%). Adults of Asian ethnic origin represent the biggest minority ethnic group (2.0%).
  • Around 5% of young adults aged 16 to 24 are married, and by the time adults reach the age of 35 to 44 the majority are married and living with their spouse or in a same sex civil partnership (58%).
  • A third (33%) of households in Scotland contains only one person, made up of single adults (18%) and single pensioners (15%). Small families without children also account for one-third of households.
  • Just over one-fifth of households in large urban areas are single adult households (22%).

All Household Members

The gender and age of all household members, including children, are presented in Table 2.1. There are more female (52%) than male (48%) household members, similar to previous years. Just under a fifth (18%) of household members is aged under 16, while just under a quarter (23%) is 60 or over.

Table 2.1: Characteristics of household members

Column percentages, 2011 data

All household members

Gender
Male 48
Female 52
All 100
Base 31,885
Age
0 to 15 18
16 to 24 12
25 to 34 12
35 to 44 14
45 to 59 21
60 to 74 16
75 plus 7
All 100
Base 31,885

Adults in private households

Table 2.2 presents the characteristics of adults, based on those selected to take part in the 'random adult' interview. As with all household members, 52% of adults are female and 48% are male. Those aged 16-24 represent 15% of adults. Those aged 45 to 59 make up a quarter (25%) of all adults, while those 75 or over represent just under one-tenth (9%) of adults.

Table 2.2: The characteristics of adults

Column percentages, 2011 data

Adults

Gender
Male 48
Female 52
All 100
Base 12,893
Age
16 to 24 15
25 to 34 15
35 to 44 17
45 to 59 25
60 to 74 19
75 plus 9
All 100
Base 12,893
Marital status
Single - never married or never formed a legally recognised same sex civil partnership 34
Married and living with husband / wife 49
A civil partner in a legally recognised same sex civil partnership 0
Married and separated from husband / wife 3
In a legally recognised same sex civil partnership and separated from your civil partner 0
Divorced 7
 Formerly a civil partner, the same sex civil partnership now legally dissolved 0
Widowed 8
A surviving same sex civil partner: your partner having since died 0
All 100
Base 12,892
Ethnicity
White 96.8
Scottish 80.3
Other British 12.6
Irish 0.6
Any other White background 3.3
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups 0.1
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British 2.0
Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British 0.9
Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British 0.5
Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British 0.1
Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British 0.3
Any other Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British 0.2
African, Caribbean or Black 0.7
African, African Scottish or African British 0.5
Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British 0.1
Black, Black Scottish or Black British 0.1
Any other Black background 0.1
Any other background 0.4
All 100
Base 12,886

Just under half (49%) of adults are married and living with a spouse, and just under 1% are living in a same sex civil partnership. The majority of adults (96.8%) are of white ethnic origin with Scottish being the predominant ethnic group (80.3%). The next biggest group is 'other British' (12.6%), while 3.2% of adults are non-white. Adults of Asian ethnic origin represent the biggest non-white group (2.0%).

Figure 2.1 examines the relationships between current marital status and adults of different ages. Of those adults aged 16-24, the majority (95%) have never been married. By the time adults reach the age of 35-44, the majority are married and living with spouse or in a civil partnership (58% in total). As would be expected, having never been married or in a same sex civil partnership declines throughout all age groups until the 75 and over, at which point it remains constant at 7%.

From the ages of 35 to 74, marriage is the predominant current status. Those aged 75 or over are more often 'widowed' (44%) although the same proportion are still married.

The data underlying Figure 2.1 are presented in Table 2.3. As well as showing the percentages of each age group who are married, divorced etc,[29] it also shows the percentage of each marital status category who are aged 16-24, 25-34 and so on.[30] Like marriage, being divorced or separated is more common than average between the ages of 35-74, and also like marriage, this peaks between the ages of 45-59 (46%).

Figure 2.1: Current marital status of adults by age

Figure 2.1: Current marital status of adults by age

2011 data, Adults (base: 12,892; minimum: 1,022)

Table 2.3: Age and marital status of adult population

Row and column percentages, 2011 data

Adults   Single, never married / civil partner-
ship
Married / civil partner-
ship
Divorced / Separated Widowed / Bereaved civil partner All (column) Total (row) Row base
16 to 24 Row 95 4 0 0   100 1,022
  Column 41 1 0 0 15    
25 to 34 Row 60 37 3 0   100 1,741
  Column 26 11 5 0 15    
35 to 44 Row 30 58 12 0   100 2,055
  Column 15 21 22 1 17    
45 to 59 Row 16 64 17 3   100 3,217
  Column 12 32 46 9 25    
60 to 74 Row 7 66 11 15   100 3,126
  Column 4 26 23 38 19    
75+ Row 7 44 4 44   100 1,731
  Column 2 8 4 52 9    
All (row)   34 49 9 8   100 12,892
Total (column)   100 100 100 100 100    
Column base   3,927 5,449 1,725 1,791 12,892    

The question on sexual orientation was introduced to the SHS in 2011 as one of the Scottish Government's "core" questions.[31] Developed by the Office for National Statistics[32], the question was designed to provide statistics to underpin the equality monitoring responsibilities of public sector organisations and to assess the disadvantage or relative discrimination experience by the lesbian, gay and bisexual population.

Table 2.4 shows that 98% of adults identified themselves as heterosexual or straight, whilst just under one per cent identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual. The 'other' option (0.1%) addresses the fact that not all people will fall in the three main categories. It is interesting to note that only 0.5% of adult stated they don't know or refused the question. Comparisons by gender show there was a slightly larger proportion of men stating they were gay at 0.8% compared to women at 0.6%. 

Table 2.4: Sexual orientation by gender

Column percentages, 2011 data

Adults Male Female All
Heterosexual / Straight 98.3 98.6 98.4
Gay / Lesbian 0.8 0.6 0.7
Bisexual 0.2 0.3 0.2
Other 0.1 0.1 0.1
Dont know 0.1 0.0 0.1
Refused 0.5 0.4 0.4
All 100 100 100
Base 5,559 7,334 12,893

 

It should be noted that estimates on self-identified sexual orientation from the SHS may be considered to under-represent the lesbian, gay and bisexual population.  Potential reasons for this are discussed in Annex 2. 

Household Type

Household type is derived from the details collected from the household respondent about all household members, using a combination of age and number of people in the household. Combining the data in this way provides, in effect, an indicator of the life stage and family circumstance of households.

The structure of households, as represented by household type, is illustrated in Figure 2.2 and full definitions are included in the Glossary (Annex 2). A third of households in Scotland contain only one adult alone, split as 18% in single adult households and 15% in single pensioner households. Small families without children also account for one-third of households (small adult, older smaller), while almost a quarter (24%) are families with children aged under 16 (single parent, small family, large family).

Figure 2.2: Household type

2011 data, Households (base: 14,358)

Table 2.5 shows the extent to which household type varies according to degree of rurality.[33] In general the differences between different types of area are relatively small. Exceptions are higher than average levels of single adults in large urban areas and of older smaller households in remote rural areas (both 22%). A slightly increased amount of small adult households (20%) can be found in accessible rural areas.

Table 2.5: Household type by Urban Rural Classification

Column percentages, 2011 data

Households Large urban areas Other urban areas Accessible small towns Remote small towns Accessible rural Remote rural Scotland
Single adult 22 16 15 18 12 14 18
Small adult 18 16 16 14 20 17 17
Single parent 5 6 5 4 4 4 5
Small family 12 14 14 12 14 10 13
Large family 5 6 8 6 8 6 6
Large adult 10 11 10 11 11 11 11
Older smaller 13 16 17 17 18 22 15
Single pensioner 15 15 16 18 14 17 15
All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Base 5,166 4,318 1,231 775 1,550 1,316 14,356

Additional tables providing further information on the composition and characteristics of households are available on the SHS website.[34]

Contact

Email: Nic Krzyzanowski

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