Characteristics of migrants in Scotland: analysis of the 2011 census

2. Personal and household characteristics, including ethnicity, religion and language

Gender and age

Chart 2.1 shows age breakdowns for the Scotland-born population and the five migrant groups. Recent EEA and non- EEA migrants were younger than those born in Scotland, the rest of the UK, and the established EEA and non- EEA migrant groups.

Recent EEA migrants were the youngest migrant group: 77 per cent (86,000 people) were aged 34 or younger. When the age group from 16 to 34 years (64 per cent of the recent EEA group) was further analysed, it was found that more than 40 per cent of these migrants were aged between 25 and 34.

Predictably, those migrants who arrived longer ago tended to be older: almost half of established non- UK migrants (just over 63,000 people) were aged 50 and over.

Relatively few recent non- UK migrants were in the older age groups: just 5 and 6 per cent of people in these groups (a total of 12,000 people) were aged 50 and over.

Chart 2.1. Age: Scotland-born population and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table AT_099b_2011

In general, the population born in Scotland and in all migrant groups had approximately equal proportions of men and women. See Charts 2.2 and 2.3.

Chart 2.2. Age and gender distribution: Scotland-born and all migrants (male) ^[3]

Chart 2.3. Age and gender distribution: Scotland-born and all migrants (female)

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table AT_099b_2011.

Household composition

Across the Scotland-born population and all migrant groups, two person households were the most common household type. Established migrants were more likely to live in one person households than recent migrants; recent EEA migrants were least likely to live in one person households (nine per cent).

17 per cent of non- EEA migrants (both recent and established) and 14 per cent of recent EEA migrants were living in households of five or more people. It is likely that this is at least partly due to migrants choosing to live in multi-occupancy accommodation in order to be able to save money and/or send money to their country of birth. See Chart 2.4.

Chart 2.4. Household size: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table CT_0143d_2011

Chart 2.5 shows that there is almost no difference in the pattern of the number of dependent children in households across the six population groups. 68,000 Scotland-born people were living in households with three or more dependent children. This compares with 5,000 non- UK migrants.

Chart 2.5. Number of dependent children in household: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table CT_0143e_2011

Marital status

Recent EEA and non- EEA migrants were more likely to be single than the established migrant groups and those born in Scotland and the rest of the UK. They were also the groups least likely to be widowed, divorced or separated. See Chart 2.6.

Chart 2.6. Marital status: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table CT_0143b_2011

Ethnicity

While 70 per cent of people born in the rest of the UK reported their ethnicity as 'White Other British,' more than one fifth of migrants from the other countries of the UK (118,900) gave their ethnicity as 'White Scottish.'

Amongst recent EEA migrants, the majority (87 per cent) reported their ethnicity as 'Other White.' More than half of these people were 'White Polish'. As noted earlier, other EU countries which were major sources of migrants in the ten years prior to the 2011 Census included Ireland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

The proportion of EEA migrants who identified as 'White Irish' was much higher amongst established EEA migrants (25 per cent), compared to seven per cent of recent EEA migrants. Another difference between recent and established EEA and non- EEA migrants is the number of established migrants who reported their ethnicity as 'White Scottish.' See Chart 2.7. However, it is worth noting that the wording of the Census questionnaire bracketed 'White' with 'Scottish'. This could possibly act as a barrier for people who are not white, but who might otherwise describe their ethnic group as 'Scottish.'

As shown in Chart 2.8, the non- EEA migrant groups were more ethnically diverse. Compared to established non- EEA migrants, recent non- EEA migrants were proportionally more likely to report 'African', 'Indian', 'Chinese' and 'other Asian' ethnicities.

Chart 2.7. Ethnicity: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table AT_092_2011.

*'Other ethnic' includes Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish, Bangladeshi British; Caribbean or black; Other ethnic groups. See Annex Table A2. Additional source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS: Table DC2205SC

Chart 2.8. Ethnicity: all non- EEA migrants

National identity

Chart 2.9 shows that national identity was more diverse than reported ethnicity in the Scotland-born population and among migrants born in the rest of the UK (although almost all identified as Scottish and some combination of British).

Both EEA and non- EEA established migrant groups were more diverse than recent migrants in terms of national identity. Around a quarter of established EEA and non- EEA migrants reported 'Scottish only' national identity. A further 16 per cent of established EEA migrants reported 'British only' national identity, compared to 31 per cent of established non- EEA migrants. It is not possible to tell whether non- UK migrants identify as Scottish or/and British more readily the longer they are in the country, or whether the differences shown in the chart are a feature of different populations.

Chart 2.9. National identity: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Tables AT_094_2011; DC2212SC

Religion

Chart 2.10 shows that non- EEA migrants were much more diverse in their religious affiliation than people from the EEA and those born in the UK.

The most common religion reported by EEA migrants was Roman Catholic (54 per cent (60,400) of recent, and 38 per cent (18,440) of established migrants).

Around 20 per cent of non- EEA recent and established migrants were Muslim. A further 11 to 17 per cent reported 'other Christian' as their religion. However, at least a quarter of people in all groups said they had no religion.

One in seven established migrants (12 per cent EEA and 15 per cent non- EEA) reported their religion as 'Church of Scotland.' However, it is not possible to tell whether affiliation to the Church of Scotland increases among non- UK migrants the longer they are in the country, or whether higher levels of affiliation are a feature of different populations.

Chart 2.10. Religion: Scotland-born and all migrants

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Tables AT_091_2011; LC2207SC

Language

89 per cent of migrants aged 3 and above (across all the non- UK migrant groups, a total of almost 327,000 people) reported that they could 'speak, read and write in English.' Two per cent reported having 'no skills in English'. Levels of English skills were lowest amongst recent EEA migrants. See Chart 2.11.

Chart 2.11. English language skills, all non- UK migrants aged 3 and over

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Table AT_095_2011

Chart 2.12 shows that, although the majority of migrants born outside the UK could speak, read and write English, migrants who arrived at younger ages were more likely to have English language skills than those who arrived at older ages, especially those who arrived aged 50 or over. The latter only represent a small proportion of all migrants: fewer than 1,000 who arrived aged 50 or older had no skills in English.

Chart 2.12. English language skills and age at arrival, all non- UK migrants aged 3 and over

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Table AT_095_2011

This pattern of language skills and age at arrival was similar across migrant groups, with the exception of established EEA migrants, where 'no skills in English' was uncommon across all age groups. See Chart 2.13.

Chart 2.13. No skills in English and age at arrival, all migrants aged 3 and over

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Table AT_095_2011

At the time of the 2011 Census, more than 170 languages other than English were spoken in homes across Scotland ^[4] . Chart 2.14 shows that two in five of all migrants spoke only English at home. This varied from 19 per cent of recent EEA migrants to 77 per cent of established EEA migrants.

Of the other eight most common languages spoken in Scottish homes, Polish was spoken by almost half of recent EEA migrants, and Chinese was spoken by 13 per cent of recent non- EEA and 8 per cent of established non- EEA migrants. Punjabi was spoken by almost one in ten established non- EEA migrants.

Less than one per cent of non- UK migrants spoke Scots or Gaelic at home.

Chart 2.14. Languages spoken at home, all non- UK migrants aged 3 and above

Source: Scotland's Census 2011 - NRS Table DC2119SC. *Other includes Scots and Gaelic.