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Scottish Household Survey Bulletin No.5

6. Health and Lifestyle

Introduction

This section examines some of the differences and similarities between men and women's experiences in relation to their daily lives and involvement with local communities

Health

Table 29 shows that men are slightly more likely than women to say that, over the past twelve months, their health has been good (56% and 51% respectively). The differences between men and women of working age are slightly smaller (no table).

Overall, a quarter of the adult population report a long-standing illness, health problem or disability. Table 30 shows the incidence of long-term illness broken down by age and sex. Overall, there are few differences between men and women (23% and 26% respectively), though women aged 75 years or older are slightly more likely to have a long-term illness, health problem or disability than men in the same age range (53% and 47% respectively).

The incidence of long-standing illness, health problems or disabilities among adults by sex and MOSAIC group is shown in Table 31. Those living in 'families in council flats' and 'renting singles' areas are more likely to report a long-standing illness, health problem or disability than those in other area types. There are few differences between the sexes within area type.

Table 32 shows the frequency of visits to GPs over the previous twelve months. Women are significantly more likely than men to have visited a GP in the preceding year (84% and 74% respectively). Women are more likely than men to have visited a GP six times or more (29% and 20% respectively). A similar pattern emerges for adults of working age (no table).

Caring

Table 33 examines the provision of care for someone outside the respondent's household by age and sex. Although the overall difference in care provision between men and women is fairly small, with 8% of men and 11% of women providing care, more significant differences appear when the data is examined by age. In all age groups up to age 60, women are more likely to provide care for someone outside the household than men, with those aged 45 to 59 the most likely to provide care to someone outside the household.

Figure 1 shows that over half (55%) of those caring for someone outside the household care for a parent or parent-in-law and a quarter (26%) care for some other relative.

Figure 1.Who is cared for outside the household

Base =1,908

Twelve per cent of households contain someone who needs regular help or care, and of those who need help or care, a slightly higher proportion are female than male (no table).

Within households, women are more likely to provide care for someone within their households (56% of care providers are women), and are also more likely to be receiving care (60% of those receiving care are women) (no table).

Neighbourhoods and communities

This section examines attitudes towards, and involvement in, the local neighbourhood and community. It includes the aspects people like and dislike about their neighbourhoods, their use of local services, levels of participation in the local community and involvement in voluntary organisations.

Neighbourhoods

When asked to rate the local neighbourhood as a place to live, respondents were largely positive, with 92% saying they rated the area as either a very or fairly good place to live. As shown in Table 34, men and women displayed very similar views.

Table 35 shows the main aspects which men and women like about the neighbourhoods they live in.

*Columns sum to more than 100% as multiple responses are allowed

There are no significant differences in neighbourhood attitude between men and women. Only minor differences are evident, with women being slightly more likely to mention good neighbours and friendly people as being aspects they like about their neighbourhoods compared with men. There were no differences in relation to neighbourhood dislikes between men and women (no table).

Use of and satisfaction with local services

Respondents were asked when they had last used or visited a range of services - public library, public parks or open spaces, museums or art galleries, swimming pools and sports/leisure centres. Patterns of usage are very similar between men and women, with only very small differences in the frequency of use. Women are more likely than men to have visited a library in the month preceding the interview (31% and 25%), while men were more likely than women to have visited a park or open space (54% and 48%) (no table).

Both men and women expressed high levels of satisfaction with the services they had used or visited. In relation to all services, over 80% of men and women were either very or fairly satisfied.

Social and community life

This section examines the interaction men and women have with other people in their neighbourhoods and the social networks they have.

Table 36 shows how involved people feel in their local communities. Overall, only around a quarter of adults (26%) feel that they are either involved in their communities a great deal or a fair amount. Women are slightly more likely to say they feel involved than men are (28% and 24% respectively). Both men and women in older age groups are more likely than younger adults to say they feel involved in their communities (no table).

Table 37 shows how involved men and women feel in their communities by MOSAIC area. The highest levels of community involvement are in 'country dweller' areas, particularly among women. Those living in areas defined as 'disadvantaged council estates', 'better off council estates', 'families in council flats', 'renting singles' and 'singles and flats' are less likely to say they feel very involved in their communities than adults in other area types. Women in these areas are more likely than men to feel involved in their community.

Men and women also felt similarly about their involvement with other people in their local communities. Around 80% of adults said that they could rely on one of their friends or relatives in their neighbourhood if they were alone and needed help, to keep an eye on their home if it was empty or if they needed advice or support. Women were more likely than men to strongly agree with the statements (no table).

Volunteering

Table 38 shows the proportions of adults who give up time in an unpaid capacity to help as a volunteer or organiser for any clubs or organisations. Similar proportions of men and women are volunteers (18% and 20% respectively) and they are broadly involved with similar organisations. The most notable differences are that men are more likely than women to be involved with an arts, culture or sports organisations, while women are more likely than men to be a volunteer for an organisation working with elderly people or a playgroup for children (no table).

Charitable donations

Table 39 shows the types of charitable donations made by men and women in the month preceding the interview. Overall, women are more likely to have made a charitable donation than men. Three-quarters (75%) of women had made a donation in the past month compared with a two-thirds (66%) of men.

*Columns sum to more than 100% as multiple responses are allowed

Among those who have made donations, the most common forms are immediate donations (53%), donation through purchase (32%) and donation in kind (29%).

There are also slight differences in the monetary amount of the donations made. A higher proportion of men than women had made donations of up to £20 in the previous month, while a higher proportion of women than men had made donations of over £50 (no table).

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