Scottish Government Equality Outcomes: Age Evidence Review
This evidence review was prepared to support the production of the Scottish Government's Equality Outcomes, with regard to age.
2 Context
Equality Act (2010) definition[2]
2.1 The Act gives the following definition of "age":
Where this is referred to, it refers to a person belonging to a particular age (e.g. 32 year olds) or range of ages (e.g. 18 - 30 year olds).
2.2 For the purposes of this report, the equality characteristic of age will be understood to include young people and older people. Where available, evidence from Scotland is presented. Otherwise, evidence is presented from the UK. This is made clear in the report.
Demographics
2.3 The resident population of Scotland on Census Day (29 April 2001) was 5,062,011, of which 19% were under 16 years old, and 21% were 60 or older - see Table 1 below[3].
Table 1: Age structure of Scotland's population (Source: Census, 2001)
| Total resident population | 5,062,011 |
|---|---|
| - % 0-4 years old | 5.47 |
| - % 5-15 years old | 13.73 |
| - % 16-29 years old | 17.46 |
| - % 30-44 years old | 22.97 |
| - % 45-59 years old | 19.29 |
| - % 60-74 years old | 13.98 |
| - % 75 and over | 7.09 |
2.4 Figure 1 shows a population pyramid for Scotland in 2009[4], illustrating the age structure of the population by gender.
Figure 1: Estimated population by age and gender, 30 June 2009 (Source: General Register Office for Scotland, 2012)
Contact
Email: Social Research
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