Scotland's People Annual Report: Results from 2012 Scottish Household Survey

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. It should be noted though that estimates of total numbers of households derived from the SHS 2012, using the household grossing weight^[25], are the same as the 2011 household estimates from NRS^[26]. 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)^[27] 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 (48%) of adults are married and living with a spouse, while just over a third (35%) have never been married or in a civil partnership.
• The majority of adults (96.3%) are of white ethnic origin, with Scottish being the predominant ethnic group (78.8%). Adults of Asian ethnic origin represent the biggest minority ethnic group (2.5%).
• 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 (56%).
• Around a third (34%) of households in Scotland contains only one person, made up of single adults (19%) and single pensioners (15%). Smaller households without children also account for one-third of households.
• Just under one-quarter of households in large urban areas are single adult households (24%) whilst a quarter (25%) of households in remote rural areas in Scotland are older smaller households (households with no children and up to 2 adults of which one can be of pensionable age).

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 (17%) of household members are aged under 16, while just under a quarter (23%) are 60 or over.

Table 2.1: Characteristics of household members

Column percentages, 2012 data
All household members

Gender
Male	48
Female	52
All	100
Base	23,240

Age
0 to 15	17
16 to 24	12
25 to 34	13
35 to 44	13
45 to 59	21
60 to 74	16
75 plus	7
All	100
Base	23,240

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 14% 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 These figures are comparable to those from 2011.

Table 2.2: The characteristics of adults

Column percentages, 2012 data

Gender
Male	48
Female	52
All	100
Base	9,890

Age
16 to 24	14
25 to 34	16
35 to 44	16
45 to 59	25
60 to 74	20
75 plus	9
All	100
Base	9,890

Marital status
Never married and never registered a same-sex civil partnership	35
Married	48
In a registered same-sex civil partnership	0
Separated, but still legally married	2
Separated, but still legally in a same-sex civil partnership	0
Divorced	7
Formerly in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved	-
Widowed	7
Surviving partner from a same-sex civil partnership	-
All	100
Base	9,890

Ethnicity
White	96.3
Scottish	78.8
Other British	13.1
Irish	0.7
Any other White background	3.7
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	0.1
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British	2.5
Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British	1.0
Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British	0.8
Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British	0.1
Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British	0.4
Any other Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British	0.3
African, Caribbean or Black	0.6
African, African Scottish or African British	0.3
Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British	0.1
Black, Black Scottish or Black British	0.1
Any other Black background	0.2
Any other background	0.5
All	100
Base	9,890

Religion
None	43.1
Church of Scotland	29.7
Roman Catholic	16.0
Other Christian	7.9
Muslim	1.6
Buddhist	0.2
Sikh	0.3
Jewish	0.1
Hindu	0.5
Pagan	0.1
Another religion, please write in	0.6
All	100
Base	9,890

Just under half (48%) of adults are married and living with a spouse, and less than 1% are living in a same sex civil partnership. The majority of adults (96.3%) are of white ethnic origin with Scottish being the predominant ethnic group (78.8%). The next biggest group is 'other British' (13.1%), while 3.7% of adults are non-white. Adults of Asian ethnic origin represent the biggest non-white group (2.5%).

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 or been in a same sex civil partnership. From the ages of 35 to 74, marriage is the predominant current status (56% of adults aged 35 to 44 are married or in a civil partnership). Those aged 75 or over are more often 'widowed' or a bereaved civil partner (44%) although the same proportion are still married.

Figure 2.1: Current marital status of adults by age

2012 data, Adults (base minimum: 780)

The data underlying Figure 2.1 are presented in Table 2.3 in more detail. As well as showing the percentages of each age group who are married, divorced etc,^[28] it also shows the percentage of each marital status category who are aged 16-24, 25-34 and so on.^[29] 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 (48%).

Table 2.3: Age and marital status of adult population

Row and column percentages, 2012 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	5	0	-		100	780
	Column	39	1	0	-	14
25 to 34	Row	62	36	3	0		100	1,380
	Column	28	12	4	0	16
35 to 44	Row	32	56	11	1		100	1,550
	Column	15	19	18	2	16
45 to 59	Row	16	62	19	3		100	2,460
	Column	12	33	48	9	25
60 to 74	Row	8	66	12	14		100	2,440
	Column	5	27	24	36	20
75+	Row	7	45	5	44		100	1,290
	Column	2	8	4	52	9
All (row)		35	48	10	7		100	9,890
Total (column)		100	100	100	100	100
Column base		3,080	4,090	1,390	1,330	9,890

The question on sexual orientation was introduced to the SHS in 2011 as one of the Scottish Government's "core" questions.^[30] Developed by the Office for National Statistics^[31], the question was designed to provide accurate 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. 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 0.8% of adults stated they refused or preferred not to answer the question, a slight increase from 0.4% in 2011. Comparisons by gender show there was a slightly larger proportion of men stating they were gay or lesbian at 0.9% compared to women at 0.5%.

Table 2.4: Sexual orientation by gender

Column percentages, 2012 data

Adults	Male	Female	All
Heterosexual / Straight	97.7	98.3	98.0
Gay / Lesbian	0.9	0.5	0.7
Bisexual	0.3	0.3	0.3
Other	0.2	0.1	0.1
Refused/Prefer not to say	0.9	0.7	0.8
All	100	100	100
Base	4,410	5,490	9,890

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). Just over a third of households in Scotland contain only one adult living alone, split as 19% 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 (23%) are families with children aged under 16 (single parent, small family, large family).

Figure 2.2: Household type

2012 data, Households (base: 10,640)

Table 2.5 shows the extent to which household type varies according to degree of rurality.^[32] 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 (24%) and of older smaller households in remote rural areas (25%).

Table 2.5: Household type by Urban Rural Classification

Column percentages, 2012 data

Households	Large urban areas	Other urban areas	Accessible small towns	Remote small towns	Accessible rural	Remote rural	Scotland
Single adult	24	17	13	17	13	12	19
Small adult	19	17	16	14	17	17	18
Single parent	5	6	5	6	4	3	5
Small family	11	13	14	10	14	10	12
Large family	4	6	8	6	7	7	6
Large adult	9	12	9	8	12	8	10
Older smaller	12	15	18	16	19	25	15
Single pensioner	15	15	15	22	13	18	15
All	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	3,520	3,230	960	620	1,150	1,160	10,640

Additional tables providing further information on the composition and characteristics of households are available on the SHS website.^[33]