Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland: an analysis of Scotland’s Census 2022
This report analyses Scotland’s Census 2022 data on Gypsy/Traveller demographics and compares results to the rest of Scotland (excluding Gypsy/Travellers).
Household and Housing Characteristics
Scotland’s Census results discussed in this section for Gypsy/Traveller and Rest of Scotland are based on ‘all people in households’. Scotland's Census define household as: one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room, or dining area. This includes: all sheltered accommodation units in an establishment (irrespective of whether there are other communal facilities), and all people living in caravans on any type of site that is their usual residence; this will include anyone who has no other usual residence elsewhere in the UK. A household must contain at least one person whose place of usual residence is at the address. A group of short-term residents living together is not classified as a household, and neither is a group of people at an address where only visitors are staying.
Living Arrangement
The Census’ ‘living arrangements’ data is a combination of the responses to the question on marital and civil partnership status and whether a person is living in a couple. The data on living arrangement is different from marital and civil partnership status as cohabiting takes priority in the categories. According to NRS, “For example, if a person is divorced and cohabiting, then in results for living arrangements they are classified as cohabiting".
According to Scotland’s Census results, in 2022 Gypsy/Travellers aged 16 and over in households were most commonly reported not living in a couple and having never been married or in a civil partnership (34.8%). This was closely followed by living as a couple being married or in a registered civil partnership (29.3%).
For comparison, 27.1% of the rest of Scotland reported not living as a couple and having never been married or in a civil partnership and 43.4% reported that they were living in a couple as either married or in a registered civil partnership.
Table 3: Percentage of Gypsy/Traveller and rest of Scotland, by living arrangement
Note: Where an asterisk (*) has been placed in the table, the sample size for the statistic is below 100. Caution is advised for interpreting smaller results, because it would only take a small amount of variation in the data to see a large apparent effect on the analysis of the data. The table does not include those aged younger than 16 or living in communal establishments in the analysis.
|
Living arrangement |
Gypsy/ Traveller (%) |
Rest of Scotland (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
Not living in a couple: Single (never married or never registered a civil partnership) |
34.8 |
27.1 |
|
Living as a couple: Married or in a registered civil partnership |
29.3 |
43.4 |
|
Living as a couple: Cohabiting |
16.1 |
13.4 |
|
Not living in a couple: Divorced or formerly in a civil partnership which is now legally dissolved |
8.7 |
6.4 |
|
Not living in a couple: Widowed or surviving partner from a civil partnership |
5.0 |
6.6 |
|
Not living in a couple: Separated (but still legally married or still legally in a civil partnership) |
4.7 |
2.1 |
|
Not living in a couple: Married or in a registered civil partnership |
1.4* |
1.0 |
Source: Scotland’s Census 2022
Type of Accommodation
The most commonly lived in type of accommodation for Gypsy/Travellers were flats, maisonettes or apartments. A higher percentage of Gypsy/Travellers reported living in this type of accommodation in comparison to the rest of Scotland (38.4% compared to 27.6%).
A higher percentage of Gypsy/Travellers reported living in a Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure (7.0%) than the rest of Scotland (0.1%).
Table 4: Percentage of Gypsy/Traveller and rest of Scotland (excluding Gypsy/Travellers), by type of accommodation
Note: Flat, maisonette or apartment includes purpose-built block of flats or tenement, part of a converted or shared house including bed-sits, and in a commercial building.
|
Type of Accommodation |
Gypsy/Traveller (%) |
Rest of Scotland (%) |
|---|---|---|
|
Flat, maisonette or apartment |
38.4 |
27.6 |
|
Whole house or bungalow: Semi-detached |
24.6 |
25.2 |
|
Whole house or bungalow: Detached |
16.0 |
28.2 |
|
Whole house or bungalow: Terraced (including end-terrace) |
14.0 |
18.9 |
|
Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure |
7.0 |
0.1 |
Source: Scotland’s Census 2022
Household Tenure
About half of Gypsy/Travellers (49.8%) lived in accommodation that was socially rented from Councils or Housing Associations/Registered Social Landlords. This is a higher proportion than the rest of Scotland, of which about a fifth lived in this type of accommodation (20.3%).
A higher percentage of Gypsy/Travellers reported living in privately rented accommodations than the rest of Scotland (20.5% compared to 12.4%).
As shown in Figure 4 below, the rest of Scotland (excluding Gypsy/Travellers) were more likely to own their home, either with a mortgage, loan, shared ownership or outright, than Gypsy/Travellers.
Figure 4: Percentage of Gypsy/Traveller and rest of Scotland (excluding Gypsy/Travellers), by household tenure
Note: The sample for responses by Gypsy/Travellers in the category ‘Living rent free’ was under 100. Caution is advised for interpreting smaller results, because it would only take a small amount of variation in the data to see a large apparent effect on the analysis of the data.
Source: Scotland’s Census 2022