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

5 Economic Activity

Introduction and Context

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the economic situation and opportunity of people in Scotland, through sustainable economic growth.^[44] The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) gathers information about the current economic situation and the characteristics of individuals and households in different economic activity categories.

The information gathered in the SHS about the current economic situation of members of the household is reported by the respondent to the 'household' part of the interview and may not conform to official definitions of employment and unemployment. The SHS has questions on these topics only for selecting the data of particular groups, such as working adults^[45] or those who are permanently retired from work, for further analysis or for use as background variables when analysing other topics.

The official source of statistics on employment, unemployment and economic activity is the Labour Force Survey for Scotland and the Annual Population Survey at a local authority level. Results from both surveys are available from the Scottish Government website^[46].

In this chapter, the current economic situation of adult men and women is considered. This is followed by an examination of the economic situation of working households, starting with the number of working adults within households. In households with adults of working age,^[47] the current economic situation is further analysed by gender and whether an adult has a long standing illness, health problem or disability. Finally, this chapter explores the current economic situation of women of working age, specifically investigating the impact of women's marital status and whether there are children present in the household.

Main Findings

• Fifty eight per cent of men and 49% of women are currently in work. Women are more likely to be in part-time employment than men (17% compared with 4%). In contrast self-employment is more common among men than women (9% and 4% respectively).
• Women's participation in the labour market has increased over recent years. Just over three-fifths (62%) of working age women are in some form of paid work. Like men, most of the women in paid work are in full-time employment (36%). Unlike men, the next most common option among women is part-time employment; 21% of working age women work part-time.
• Those who have attained degree level or professional qualifications have the highest proportion in full-time employment (59%). Of those who have no qualifications, just over a quarter (26%) are in full-time employment.

Current economic Situation

Figure 5.1 shows the current economic situation of adults by gender. Fifty eight per cent of men and 49% of women are currently in work. In addition, around one-in-seven (15%) men and one-in-ten (10%) women are looking for work or are in some form of education or training preparatory to work. Virtually all of the remainder are currently unavailable for work (28% of men and 41% of women), either due to them looking after the home or family, or because they are permanently sick or disabled, or permanently retired.

Just under half (45%) of all men and 28% of women are in full-time employment. Women are more likely to be in part-time employment than men (17% compared with 4%). In contrast self-employment is more common among men than women (9% and 4% respectively).

Figure 5.1: Current economic situation of adults aged 16 and over

2012 data, Adult males (base: 4,410)
Percentage of adult males

2012 data, Adult females (base: 5,490)
Percentage of adult females

Although there are relatively high levels of both men and women in work, there remains some evidence of the traditional model of caring for home and family being a female role. Nine per cent of women report that they are looking after home and family compared with 1% of men.

One-in-five men (21%) and over a quarter (27%) of women are permanently retired from work. The higher proportion of retired women arises as a consequence of their longer life expectancy and the lower retirement age for women, though this age discrepancy is narrowing.

Working Households

In this section the focus is on working households. Firstly, the number of adults in paid employment^[48] in households is examined. Subsequently, adults of working age are investigated in more detail.

Please note that due to changes in the state pension age (specifically the current female state pension age which is changing dynamically to match the male state pension age), the definition of working adults and household is based on any adults aged 16 to 64. Please see the definitions related to economic activity in Annex 2 for further information.

Adults in paid employment

As Figure 5.2 shows, in Scotland as a whole, six in ten households include at least one adult in paid employment. This is made up of just under a third of households (32%) containing two or more adults in paid employment and 28% having one. The remaining households (40%) contain no adults in paid employment.

The number of working adults in a household varies according to the deprivation levels of the area in which they are situated.^[49] A slight majority of households in the 15% most deprived of areas include no adults in paid employment (51%). Conversely the majority of households in the rest of Scotland contain one or more working adult (62% compared with 38% having no adults in paid employment).

Figure 5.2: Number of adults in paid employment by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

2012 data, Households (base: 10,640; minimum: 1,510)

Current economic situation of working age adults

Not all households contain adults of working age,^[50] so it is useful to look at the current economic situation of men and women in this category. As Table 5.1 shows, men of working age are employed predominantly either full-time (54%) or are self-employed (10%). Taken together with the relatively small proportion of working age men employed part-time, this means that over two-thirds (69%) of adult men of working age are currently engaged in some form of paid work.

Women's participation in the labour market has increased over recent years. Just over three-fifths (62%) of working age women are in some form of paid work. Like men, most of the women in paid work are in full-time employment (36%). Unlike men, the next most common option among women is part-time employment; 21% of working age women are in part-time employment. Twelve per cent of working age women do not participate in the labour market because they are looking after their home or family.

It is relatively uncommon for men or women of working age to be permanently retired from work (5% males; 7% females). This will under-represent all those who have taken early retirement as some who do so will subsequently take up other employment opportunities.

Table 5.1: Current economic situation of adults of working age by gender

Column percentages, 2012 data

Working age adults (16-64) in employment	Male	Female	All
Self-employed	10	5	7
Full-time employment	54	36	45
Part-time employment	5	21	13
Looking after home/family	1	12	6
Permanently retired from work	5	7	6
Unemployed and seeking work	9	4	7
At school	3	3	3
Higher/further education	7	7	7
Government work/training scheme	0	0	0
Permanently sick or disabled	6	5	5
Unable to work due to short term ill-health	1	0	1
Other	0	0	0
All	100	100	100
Base	3,210	3,840	7,040

There are a number of differences in current economic situation when looking at the highest level of qualification people have achieved. Those who have attained degree level or professional qualifications have the highest proportion in full-time employment (59%). Of those who have no qualifications, just over a quarter (26%) are in full-time employment. Similarly, almost one-fifth (17%) of those with no qualifications are permanently sick or disabled, higher than any other groups.

Table 5.2: Current economic situation of adults of working age by highest level of qualification

Column percentages, 2012 data

Working age adults (16-64) in employment	Degree, Professional qualification	HNC/HND or equivalent	Higher, A level or equivalent	O' Grade, Standard grade or equivalent	Other qualification	No qualifications	All
Self-employed	8	8	8	7	3	6	7
Full-time employment	59	52	44	38	25	26	45
Part-time employment	12	14	13	14	18	11	13
Looking after home/family	4	5	5	8	9	12	6
Permanently retired from work	7	4	3	4	30	12	6
Unemployed and seeking work	2	7	5	11	6	11	7
At school	-	-	5	8	-	1	3
Higher/further education	6	7	15	4	-	1	7
Government work/training scheme	-	0	0	1	-	0	0
Permanently sick or disabled	2	3	3	6	8	17	5
Unable to work due to short term ill-health	0	0	0	1	1	2	1
Other	0	-	0	0	-	0	0
All	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	2,080	870	1,280	1,540	130	1,100	7,040

Still focusing on adults of working age, it is possible to compare the differing economic situations of the adults who have a long-standing illness, health problem or disability that limits their daily activities, with those of the rest of the adult population (Table 5.3). Three-in-ten (30%) adults of working age with a long-standing illness, health problem or disability are permanently sick or disabled. Additionally, 3% are currently unable to work due to short term illness or injury. The biggest difference between those who do or do not have any long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability lies in the proportion in full-time employment (22% who do as against 50% who do not). If you exclude those who are permanently sick or disabled, then the proportion of people with health issues who are in full-time employment rises to 31%.

Table 5.3: Current economic situation of adults of working age by long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability

Column percentages, 2012 data

				Excluding 'Permanently sick or disabled'
Working age adults (16-64) in employment	Yes, some form of disability and/or long-term illness	No disability or long-term illness	All	Yes, some form of disability and/or long-term illness	No disability or long-term illness	All
Self-employed	4	9	8	5	9	8
Full-time employment	22	50	45	31	50	47
Part-time employment	7	14	13	11	14	13
Looking after home/family	6	6	6	9	6	6
Permanently retired from work	14	5	7	20	5	7
Unemployed and seeking work	11	5	6	16	5	7
At school	1	3	3	1	3	3
Higher/further education	2	8	7	3	8	8
Government work/training scheme	0	0	0	0	0	0
Permanently sick or disabled	30	0	5	~	~	~
Unable to work due to short term ill-health	3	0	1	4	0	1
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0
All	100	100	100	100	100	100
Base	990	3,720	4,710	680	3,710	4,390

Women of working age

The final section of this chapter focuses on the current economic situation of women of working age, examining the difference in situation firstly according to whether there are children in the household and then by their current marital status.

As Table 5.1 demonstrated previously, the majority of women of working age are in some form of employment. Table 5.4 shows that this remains the case regardless of whether there are children in the household or not; 60% of working age women with children are employed or self-employed, while similarly 63% of working age women without children in the household are also in some form of employment.

The main differences between the two groups of working age women are that a higher proportion of those with no children in the household are employed full-time (43% compared with 24% of those where children are present) while, unsurprisingly, a higher proportion who have children in the household are looking after the home or family (24% compared with 5% of those with no children present).

Table 5.4: Current economic situation of women by presence of children in the household

Column percentages, 2012 data

Working age females (16-64) in employment	Yes, have children	No children	All
Self-employed	6	4	5
Full-time employment	24	43	36
Part-time employment	30	16	21
Looking after home/family	24	5	12
Permanently retired from work	0	11	7
Unemployed and seeking work	5	4	4
At school	4	2	3
Higher/further education	5	8	7
Government work/training scheme	0	0	0
Permanently sick or disabled	2	7	5
Unable to work due to short term ill-health	0	1	0
Other	0	0	0
All	100	100	100
Base	1,390	2,440	3,840

The different economic situation of women of working age according to their current marital status broadly reflects the links between age and marital status (Chapter 2) and between economic situation and presence of children previously discussed (Table 5.4).

Table 5.5 shows, for example, a higher proportion of married, including those in a civil partnership, working age women are in full time or part-time employment (36% and 27% respectively). Almost one-in-six (15%) of women of working age who have never been married are in higher or further education, reflecting the relatively high proportion of younger people (16-24) who are in this category. A slightly higher proportion of women who are divorced or separated are in full-time employment (42%) as compared to the other martial status groups.

Table 5.5: Current economic situation of women by marital status

Column percentages, 2012 data

Working age females (16-64) in employment	Single, never married / civil partnership	Married / civil partnership	Divorced / Separated	Widowed / Bereaved civil partner	All
Self-employed	2	7	5	1	5
Full-time employment	35	36	42	28	36
Part-time employment	16	27	17	15	21
Looking after home/family	10	15	5	10	12
Permanently retired from work	2	10	9	28	7
Unemployed and seeking work	7	2	6	6	4
At school	7	-	-	-	3
Higher/further education	15	1	2	1	7
Government work/training scheme	0	-	-	-	0
Permanently sick or disabled	5	3	11	11	5
Unable to work due to short term ill-health	0	0	1	0	0
Other	0	0	1	-	0
All	100	100	100	100	100
Base	1,420	1,580	680	150	3,840