Scottish household survey 2018: key findings

Composition and characteristics of households

Age, gender, health, urban/rural

Over half (56 per cent) of adults were aged 45 years or more.

There were more women (51 per cent) than men (49 per cent) in Scotland, and the gender of one tenth of one per cent (0.1 per cent) was reported as ‘in another way’.

Three in 10 adults (30 per cent) reported having a long-term physical or mental health condition in 2018.

83 per cent of households in Scotland were in urban areas, while only 17 per cent were in rural areas.

Religious Belonging

Religious belonging in Scotland has been declining and this trend continued into 2018; 51 per cent of adults reported that they didn’t belong to any religion. 

In 2018 there was an increase in the proportion of adults reporting belonging to ‘Other Christian’ compared to previous years.

Economic situation

The proportion of adults (aged 16+) who were employed full-time has been roughly stable since 1999.

Since 1999, the proportion of those looking after the home or family has decreased to four per cent in 2018.

Since 1999, the proportion of people who were permanently retired from work has increased to 24 per cent in 2018.

Household Types

More than a third of households (36 per cent) contained adults that lived alone; 22 per cent were single adult households and 14 per cent were single older households.