Scottish Household Survey Quarterly Bulletin No.1: Page 6

Scottish Household Survey Quarterly Bulletin No.1

Table 12 How often worried about money by age of Highest Income Householder

Column percentages

Age of Highest Income Householder
	16-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60-74	75+	Total
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Almost all the time	28	19	16	11	9	3	13
Quite often	26	19	17	13	11	6	14
Only sometimes	35	38	36	35	30	36	35
Never	11	24	31	40	48	54	38
Refused	0	0	1	1	1	1	1
Don't know	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Base	100	413	543	699	563	279	2597

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).

Although people in households with lower net incomes experience money worries most frequently, the fact that 30% of those with incomes of less than £6,000 a year say they never worry about money suggests that the 'high savings/low income' experience of many older residents may lessen the impact of low income for some (no table). This is further supported by the low reported level of financial hardship among outright owners (who are most commonly older people), 56% of whom say they never worry about money (no table).

Table 13 How often worried about money by Household Type

Column percentages

Household type
.	Single adult %	Small adult %	Single parent %	Small family %	Large family %	Large adult %	Older smaller %	Single pensioner %	.Total %
Almost all the time	15	10	35	11	19	12	4	8	13
Quite often	18	12	27	14	13	12	9	11	14
Only sometimes	31	38	29	39	43	37	27	35	35
Never	35	38	9	35	24	37	57	45	38
Refused	1	0	1	0	-	0	2	1	1
Don't know	-	0	-	-	-	1	0	0	0
Base=100%	432	454	164	339	201	289	340	376	2595

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).

In terms of household type (Table 13), it is clear that money worries are much more common among single parent and large family households. Around one in three single parents say they worry about money 'almost all the time', while the same is true for a fifth of people in large family households.

While 27% say they worry about money quite often or almost all the time, when asked how well they manage financially (Tables 14 and 15), very few (only 1%) say they are in 'deep financial trouble', while 13% say that either they have 'some financial difficulties' or they do 'not manage very well' financially. The great majority (85%) say that they 'get by alright' or better.

Again, young households, single parents and those on lower incomes are less likely to say they manage well financially, whereas older households, outright owners and those with higher incomes are more likely to say they manage well. Private tenants and social tenants more commonly say they have financial problems or do not manage well, compared with owner-occupiers.

Table 14 How well household manages financially by age of Highest Income Householder

Column percentages

Age of Highest Income Householder
	16-24	25-34	35-44	45-59	60-74	75+	Total
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Manage very well	5	6	11	15	14	14	12
Manage quite well	14	28	31	33	30	30	30
Get by alright	40	43	38	38	45	50	42
Don't manage very well	8	6	6	5	7	4	6
Have some financial difficulties	32	14	11	6	4	1	8
Are in deep financial trouble	2	2	2	1	0	0	1
Refused	-	1	1	0	1	1	1
Don't know	-	0	0	1	0	0	0
Base=100%	100	413	543	699	563	279	2597

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).

Table 15 How well household manages financially by net household income

Column percentages

Net household income
	Up to £6,000	£6,001-£10,000	£10,001-£15,000	£15,001-£20,000	Over £20,000	Total
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Manage very well	4	5	14	11	24	12
Manage quite well	24	22	29	40	41	31
Get by alright	46	54	42	40	30	42
Don't manage very well	10	6	6	4	1	5
Have some financial difficulties	13	11	8	5	4	8
Are in deep financial trouble	2	2	2	1	0	1
Refused	0	-	-	0	0	0
Don't know	1	-	-	-	-	0
Base=100%	269	319	336	228	363	1515

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).