Social Security Experience Panels - panel members: full report - 2020 update

This report provides demographic information about the Social Security Experience Panels. It also summarises feedback from panel members about their experiences of being a member of the panels and how this could be improved.

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Ethnicity

New panel members

We asked new panel members about their ethnicity.[11] 319 people responded in this question. As responses were low across a number of ethnic groups, these responses have been treated as “white ethnic groups”, “non-white minority ethnic groups” and “prefer not to say.”

97 per cent of respondents identified as ‘White ethnic group”, compared to 3 per cent identified as a ‘non-white minority ethnic group.’ One per cent of respondents preferred not to give their ethnicity.

Table 3: New panel members - respondents by ethnic group (n=319)
Number of respondents % respondents
White ethnic groups 309 97%
Non-white minority ethnic groups <10 3%
Prefer not to say <10 1%

All panel members

Across a number of different ‘About You’ surveys, we have asked the Experience Panels’ membership about their ethnicity. Responses from 925 panel members are available to be presented in Table 4.[12]

As responses were low across a number of ethnic groups, these responses have been categorised as “white ethnic groups”, “non-white minority ethnic groups” and “prefer not to say.”

97 per cent of respondents identified as a ‘White ethnic group”, compared to 2 per cent identified as a ‘non-white minority ethic group.’ One per cent of respondents preferred not to give their ethnicity.

Table 4: All panel members - respondents by ethnic group (n=925)
Number of respondents % respondents
White ethnic groups 895 97%
Non-white minority ethnic groups 22 2%
Prefer not to say <10 1%

Compared to available responses from the 2018 findings, panel membership by ethnicity has stayed proportionately similar.

Additional research with ethnic minorities:

Given that ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the Experience Panels, in 2018, a standalone research project with ethnic minorities in Scotland was created. Scottish Government researchers in partnership with Happy to Translate conducted 20 focus groups with over 130 participants from an ethnic minority background.[13]

Contact

Email: socialsecurityexperience@gov.scot

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