Scottish Surveys Core Questions 2014

5 Religion

The religious group or denomination to which respondents report belonging is collected in detail by the contributing surveys to the SSCQ. The full range of responses available to respondents is provided in Table 90.

We have tried to present the data on religion in a way that would be most helpful to users, with consideration to producing analysis to reveal inequalities that highlight the need for action. However, in Scotland, many religious groups are small in number and this can often lead to statistical unreliability when analysing and presenting data drawn from a sample survey. This can hinder publication of figures because of the need to avoid identification of individuals.

In some instances we have tried to overcome this problem by combining categories. This is not an ideal solution as it can hide inequalities that occur between each of the separate categories, but it is often the option which provides the best balance between data utility, sensitivity and the protection of the individual. Our schema for doing so is provided in section 11.6.

Where it has been necessary to combine categories, we have tried to make the headings reflective of the individual categories that have been combined. We have tried to take account of the sensitivities around differing stakeholders' views of the ethnic group categories used in Scottish surveys. In the accompanying commentary we have used current terminology on ethnic group.

Summary Findings

• After the age distribution of religion groups is taken into account, most of the apparent differences in good/very good general health disappear. Only the lower than average rates for the "Roman Catholic" and "Other" groups are significant, at 72.5% and 70.4% respectively.
• When age standardisation is applied, the apparent differences in the prevalence of long-term limiting health conditions are no longer statistically significant
• After age standardisation, the smoking rate for Church of Scotland, Other Christian and Muslims is considerably lower than the national average rate, and higher among Roman Catholics and those with no religious affiliation. Smoking rates are significantly higher for men compared with women in all religion groups except for those who identified as having 'no religion' and for Roman Catholics, where the rates for men and women are approximately equal
• Members of the Church of Scotland are more likely to report providing unpaid care (20.7%), even when the different age distributions of religion groups are accounted for.
• Since 2012, the proportion of members of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholics reporting that crime rate decreased or stayed the same increased by 2.2 and 4.4 points respectively, while for those with no religious affiliation this has decreased by 2.2 points since 2013. In 2014 there were no statistically significant differences between religious groups on this indicator.

Figure 15: Age profile of religion groups, SSCQ 2014

Around 40% of those without religious affiliation, and over half of Muslims, are under 35 while nearly 60% of Church of Scotland members are 55 or over. These clear differences in age distribution between religion groups means that age standardisation has been applied to statistics in this chapter where indicators are age-correlated.

Table 41: Age profile of religion groups, SSCQ 2014

	Proportion in Age Group (Row %)						Adults	Col%
	16-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65+
None	20.5	20.5	17.5	18.0	11.7	11.7	1,973,600	44%
Church of Scotland	5.3	6.2	10.4	18.9	20.1	39.0	1,293,400	29%
Roman Catholic	11.2	18.9	17.2	18.3	15.0	19.3	666,700	15%
Other Christian	13.7	13.0	13.8	16.6	17.6	25.3	335,900	8%
Muslim	14.5	39.0	23.7	13.5	5.6	3.6	60,100	1%
Other	13.3	23.3	21.0	14.7	14.3	13.5	76,100	2%

Where statistical testing is used to identify differences between subgroups the "No religion" group - the most populous group in Scotland - is used as the basis for comparison. It should be noted that this group is generally younger than other religion groups (excluding Muslims) and age standardisation will therefore tend to have a large impact on the significance of differences between religions. For more information on this process, see section 11.10.

Where p-values are provided, a value of less than 0.05 indicates statistical significance at the 95% level. For more information about statistical tests, see section 11.11.

5.1 General Health

There are lower levels of good or very good general health among those identifying with the Church of Scotland (69.4%), Roman Catholics (72.5%) and "Others" (70.4%). Those with no religious affiliation report generally higher levels (77.8%) and Muslims report the highest levels overall at 80.6%. None of these groups saw significant changes over time.

Table 42: General health by religion, SSCQ 2014; changes from 2013 and 2012

		2014		Change
		grp %	+/-	from 2013	from 2012
Religion	None	77.8	± 1.1	-1.5	+0.7
	Church of Scotland	69.4	± 1.3	-1.1	-0.5
	Roman Catholic	72.5	± 1.9	+0.1	+0.2
	Other Christian	75.1	± 2.5	-1.7	+0.5
	Muslim	80.6	± 6.7	+2.0	+3.2
	Other	70.4	± 6.1	-4.6	-4.3

These differences are closely related to the age profile of the various groups. Age standardisation moves the indicator for those who identified as having 'no religion', Roman Catholic, Muslim and Other groups down. The generally older Church of Scotland and Other Christian groups are moved up.

Table 43: Good/very good general health - age standardised religious group result, SSCQ 2014

	Base level	Age standardised
None	77.8%	74.0%	± 1.2
Church of Scotland	69.4%	74.9%	± 1.5
Roman Catholic	72.5%	71.7%	± 1.9
Other Christian	75.1%	76.3%	± 2.5
Muslim	80.6%	68.1%	± 11.8
Other	70.4%	66.9%	± 6.5

There were no detectable differences from the reference group in the age-standardised levels of good or very good general health for most groups. The exceptions are

• Roman Catholics where, after age standardisation, the rate was lower than the national average at 71.7%
• "Other", where the standardised rate was 66.9%

Although point estimates for Muslims and Other religions are moved 6-7 percentage points lower than the non-religious comparitor group and the national average by age standardisation, due to the large confidence intervals on these estimates this is not a statistically significant difference.

5.2 Long-term Limiting Health Conditions

Before the age differences among religious groups are taken into account, compared with those who identified as having 'no religion' (19.3%) there are fewer long-term limiting health conditions among Muslims (9.4%). People identifying as Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Other Christian have higher prevalences in general.

Table 44: Long-term limiting health conditions by religion, SSCQ 2014; changes from 2013 and 2012

		2014		Change
		grp %	+/-	from 2013		from 2012
Religion	None	19.3	± 1.0	+1.9		+0.2
	Church of Scotland	28.8	± 1.3	+0.9		-1.0
	Roman Catholic	24.6	± 1.8	+0.4		-1.5
	Other Christian	24.7	± 2.5	+1.3		+0.7
	Muslim	9.4	± 4.7	-6.5		-2.3
	Other	24.4	± 5.6	+2.1		+1.6

As shown in Table 41, there are large differences in the age distributions of different religious groups. When age standardisation is applied, the apparent differences in the prevalence of long-term limiting health conditions are no longer statistically significant.

Table 45: Long-term limiting health conditions - age standardised religious group results, SSCQ 2014

	Base level	Age standardised
None	19.3%	23.3%	± 1.1
Church of Scotland	28.8%	23.7%	± 1.5
Roman Catholic	24.6%	25.3%	± 1.8
Other Christian	24.7%	23.1%	± 2.4
Muslim	9.4%	19.1%	± 10.6
Other	24.4%	27.4%	± 5.9

5.3 Smoking

Those who identified as having 'no religion' and Church of Scotland members have detectable reductions in smoking rates since 2012. Point estimates across all religious groups have fallen over this period, although not by statistically significant levels.

Those who identified as having 'no religion' are also more likely to smoke cigarettes than the national average. The Other Christian group has significantly lower smoking rates than the national average. The highest smoking rates are found among Roman Catholics, at 25.1%. These differences are not affected by age standardisation.

Table 46: Smoking prevalence by religion, SSCQ 2014; changes from 2013 and 2012

		2014		Change
		grp %	+/-	from 2013	from 2012
Religion	None	24.3	± 1.1	-1.6	-3.3
	Church of Scotland	16.9	± 1.1	-1.1	-2.6
	Roman Catholic	25.1	± 1.9	-1.5	-1.8
	Other Christian	13.4	± 2.2	-0.6	-2.4
	Muslim	14.1	± 6.0	-4.1	-0.4
	Other	19.4	± 5.9	+4.0	-6.1

Muslim and Other religious groups do not have significantly different smoking rates from the national level. However, when the different age distribution of Muslims is taken into account, their smoking rate decreases further and is significantly lower than for Scotland as a whole.

Table 47: Smoking prevalence - age standardised religion groups, SSCQ 2014

	Base level	Age standardised
None	24.3%	23.1%	± 1.1
Church of Scotland	16.9%	18.4%	± 1.5
Roman Catholic	25.1%	24.6%	± 1.9
Other Christian	13.4%	13.9%	± 2.3
Muslim	14.1%	11.7%	± 5.8
Other	19.4%	18.9%	± 6.0

Smoking rates are significantly higher for men in all religion groups except for those who identified as having 'no religion' and Roman Catholics (see Figure 16) ^[40] .

Figure 16: Smoking prevalence by religion and sex, SSCQ 2014

5.4 Mental Wellbeing

None of the religious groups have significantly different SWEMWBS scores on average. Age standardisation has no effect on this findings.

Table 48: Average SWEMWBS score by religion, 2014

		2014
		Mean	+/-
Religion	None	24.4	± 0.1
	Church of Scotland	24.5	± 0.1
	Roman Catholic	24.6	± 0.2
	Other Christian	24.5	± 0.2
	Muslim	24.6	± 0.8
	Other	24.5	± 0.7

5.5 Provision of Unpaid Care

Members of the Church of Scotland appear more likely to provide unpaid care than adults in Scotland on average. After age standardisation, all other groups are moved close to the national average, but Church of Scotland remains significantly higher than the non-religious reference group.

Table 49: Provision of unpaid care - age standardised religion groups, SSCQ 2014

	Base level	Age standardised
None	15.8%	16.2%	± 1.0
Church of Scotland	20.7%	20.3%	± 1.7
Roman Catholic	18.7%	18.8%	± 1.9
Other Christian	19.1%	18.8%	± 2.6
Muslim	14.1%	17.9%	± 10.8
Other	16.7%	16.4%	± 5.3

5.6 Perceptions of Local Crime Rate

There are no statistically significant differences in perceptions of the local crime rate between religion groups.

Since 2012, a larger proportion of members of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholics have reported that the crime rate has decreased or stayed the same over the previous two years, increasing 2.2 and 4.4 percentage points respectively.

Since 2013, this proportion has fallen for those with no religion by 2.2 percentage points.

Table 50: Local crime rate by religion, SSCQ 2014; changes from 2013 and 2012

		2014		Change
		grp %	+/-	from 2013		from 2012
Religion	None	76.6	± 1.4	-2.2		+0.7
	Church of Scotland	78.3	± 1.4	+1.2		+2.2
	Roman Catholic	77.7	± 2.1	+1.4		+4.4
	Other Christian	79.7	± 2.9	+2.7		-0.0
	Muslim	74.7	± 9.4	+6.6		-1.6
	Other	73.6	± 7.9	-3.9		+0.5

5.7 Confidence in Police

Analysis of Confidence in Police is conducted on latent classes across all six questions. These statistics are in development and are therefore provided in a supplementary paper available from the SSCQ website. ^[41]