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Publication - Statistics

Scottish Household Survey 2021 - telephone survey: key findings

Published
25 April 2023
From
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, +31 more … Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Chief Social Researcher, Chief Statistician, Director of Communications and Ministerial Support, Director for Constitution, Director of Covid Recovery and Public Service Reform, Director of Culture and Major Events, Director of Digital, Director of Energy and Climate Change, Director of Environment and Forestry, Director of Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights, Director of Healthcare Quality and Improvement, Director of Justice, Director of Learning, Director of Local Government and Housing, Director of Safer Communities, Director of Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice, Director-General Communities, Director-General Corporate, Director-General Economy, Director-General Education and Justice, Director-General Health and Social Care, Director-General Net Zero, Director-General Strategy and External Affairs, Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, Minister for Housing, Minister for Parliamentary Business, Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
Directorate
Tackling Child Poverty and Social Justice Directorate, +15 more … Communications and Ministerial Support Directorate, Constitution Directorate, Public Service Reform Directorate, Culture and Major Events Directorate, Digital Directorate, Early Learning and Childcare Directorate, Energy and Climate Change Directorate, Environment and Forestry Directorate, Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate, Healthcare Quality and Improvement Directorate, Justice Directorate, Learning Directorate, Local Government and Housing Directorate, Population Health Directorate, Safer Communities Directorate
Topic
Arts, culture and sport, Children and families, Communities and third sector, +9 more … Cost of living crisis, Environment and climate change, Equality and rights, Health and social care, Housing, Law and order, Money and tax, Public sector, Transport
ISBN
9781805257059

A summary of the key findings from the Scottish Household Survey 2021 telephone survey.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

3. Finance

The proportion of respondents reporting that they were managing well financially was the same in 2021 as in 2020 at 64% (Table 3.1).

The proportion of households reporting that they managed well financially was higher for those with higher household incomes than for those with lower: 74% of households with a net annual household income over £30,000 reported that they were managing well in 2021, and 2% said that they did not manage well (Table 3.2). The proportion of households with a net annual household income up to £10,000 reporting that they managed well was 39%, with nearly one in five (19%) saying they did not manage well – nearly four times the overall Scottish average of 5%.

Single parent households were the most likely to report that they were not managing well financially (20%) (Table 3.3), above the Scottish average of 5%.

Of the different household tenures, owner occupiers were most likely to report they were managing well financially (74%, compared to 51% for households in the private rented sector and 27% for households in the social rented sector) (Table 3.5). Households in the social rented sector were most likely to report that they were not managing well financially (19%, compared to 8% of private rented and 2% for owner occupiers).

Households relying mainly on benefits (including the state pension) were the most likely to say they were not managing well financially (12%), which is three times the rate for households relying on earnings (4%) (Table 3.6). In contrast, only 2% of households relying on other sources of income (including occupational pension and other investments) reported that they were not managing well financially.

Levels of perceived financial difficulty were higher in more deprived areas: 12% of households in the 20% most deprived Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) areas reported that they were not managing well financially, dropping to 2% for households in the 20% least deprived areas (Table 3.10).

Households where the highest income householder (HIH) was male were more likely to say they managed well financially compared to those where the HIH was female (67% and 60% respectively) (Table 3.7).

Households with a lower net annual household income were more likely to report having no savings than those with higher incomes (Table 3.11).

Contact

Email: shs@gov.scot

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