Work and Worklessness among Households in Scotland 2009

2. Work and Workless Households, comparisons between Scotland and UK

• Since 2004 the economic activity of working age households in Scotland and the UK have remained broadly stable (see Chart 1).
• Compared to the UK the proportion of working age households in Scotland which are mixed is lower. In 2008 24.2 per cent of working age households in Scotland were mixed compared to 27.1 per cent in the UK.
• Compared to the UK the proportion of working age households in Scotland which are workless is higher. In 2008 17.3 per cent of working age households in Scotland were workless compared to 16.0 per cent in the UK.

Chart 1. Percentage of working age households by economic activity of household members, UK and Scotland, 2004 - 2008

Source: Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec) Household Datasets

• Chart 2 shows that the proportion of children in working households in Scotland is consistently higher in Scotland compared to the UK.
• Since 2004 the proportion of children in working households in Scotland has increased by 1.3 percentage points compared to a decrease of 0.7 percentage points across the UK.
• The proportion of children in mixed households in Scotland is consistently lower in Scotland compared to the UK.
• In 2008 a lower proportion of children in Scotland were in workless households compared to the UK, 13.7 per cent in Scotland compared to 16.1 per cent in the UK. However, prior to 2008 the rates were similar in Scotland and the UK.

Chart 2. Percentage of children in working age households by economic activity of household members, UK and Scotland, 2004 - 2008

Source: Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec) Household Datasets