Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics: Update to 30 September 2022

Gender balance of applicants for SWF Awards

Since the scheme began in April 2013, there is a clear gender difference in applicants for Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants. From 2013 until around the start of the pandemic, the majority of applicants for Crisis Grants were male, whereas this has now changed, and most applicants are now female – 54% in the most recent quarter (Table 3, Chart 14).

There has always been a minority of males applying for Community Care Grants, and the proportion has declined over the duration of the scheme, and now sits at 40% in the latest quarter (Table 2, Chart 14).

A notable pattern that can be seen is that the proportion of males, especially when applying for Crisis Grants, falls annually in the third quarter. This could relate to the annual peak in births which occurs in late September, a time when new mothers may be more likely to apply for funding. However, this pattern has become much less obvious since 2020 – this is most likely to be related to disruption due to the Covid pandemic.

Chart 14: Proportion of Applications for Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants by males - Quarterly