National Records of Scotland

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Census 2011: Release 3D

Census 2011: Release 3D

Thursday, 15 May 2014
Demography News Release - Image

Census 2011: Release 3D - Detailed characteristics on Population and Households in Scotland

The statistics published today by the Registrar General for Scotland on the
Scotland’s Census website present further details on population and households (Release 3D), from national to local level.

Key points - Release 3D

Marital and civil partnership status by sex by age

  • In 2011, most (98 per cent) people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland were single (never married or never registered a same sex civil partnership). This proportion decreased with age: it was 78 per cent for those aged 25 to 29, 54 per cent for those aged 30 to 34, 28 per cent for those aged 35 to 49 and 9 per cent for those aged 50 and over.
  • Over half of people aged 40 to 79 were married or in a registered same sex civil partnership, with this proportion being highest for those aged 60 to 64, at 68 per cent. The 40 to 49 age group had the highest proportion of people who were separated (6 per cent) and the 45 to 59 age group the highest proportion who were divorced (15 per cent).
  • 14 per cent of people aged 65 to 69 were widowed, with that proportion increasing to 58 per cent for those aged 80 and over.
  • Females aged 16 to 39 were more likely to be married than males, with the largest difference being in the 25 to 29 age group: 23 per cent of females were married compared with 16 per of males. Of those aged 40 and over, males were more likely to be married than females, with the gap being largest for those aged 80 and over: 54 per cent of males were married compared with 18 per cent of females. There were higher proportions of widowed females than males in all age groups, with the largest difference being in the 80 to 84 age group: 47 per cent of females were widowed compared with 29 per cent of males.

Living arrangements by sex by age

  • Of the 4.3 million people aged 16 and over who lived in a household in Scotland at the time of the 2011 Census, 56 per cent lived in a couple, including 45 per cent living in a married or registered same-sex civil partnership and 11 per cent in a cohabiting couple. The proportion of people living in a married or registered same-sex civil partnership couple was higher than the proportion living in a cohabiting couple for those aged 30 and over. 17 per cent of those aged 20 to 24 and 28 per cent of those aged 25 to 29 lived in a cohabiting couple, compared with 3 per cent and 18 per cent respectively who were living in a married couple.

Household composition by sex by age

  • Of the 5.2 million people who lived in a household in 2011, 76 per cent lived in a ‘one family’ household, 16 per cent lived in a one person household and the remaining 8 per cent (423,905) lived in another type of household, for example households comprising all full-time students or other unrelated adults living together.
  • Of those aged 25 to 49, males (19 per cent) were more likely to live on their own than females (11 per cent). For those aged 65 and over, 46 per cent of females lived on their own compared with 25 per cent of males.

Household composition by ethnic group of Household Reference Person

  • In 2011, 35 per cent of the 2.4 million households in Scotland comprised one person living alone. The proportion of households comprising one person living alone varied from 16 per cent where the ethnic group of the Household Reference Person (HRP) [ Footenote 1]] was ‘White: Polish’ to 54 per cent where it was ‘Black, Black Scottish or Black British’.
  • The proportion of households comprising married couples was highest for those where the ethnic group of the HRP was ‘Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British’ (48 per cent, including 30 per cent with dependent children) and ‘Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British’ (47 per cent, including 35 per cent with dependent children). These compared with a Scotland average of 32 per cent of households, including 14 per cent with dependent children.
  • While 9 per cent of all households in Scotland comprised cohabiting couples, this proportion ranged from 2 per cent where the ethnic group of the HRP was ‘Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British’ to 19 per cent where it was ‘White: Polish’.
  • Overall, 11 per cent of households in Scotland were lone parent households. This proportion ranged from 4 per cent where the ethnic group of the HRP was ‘Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British’ to 15 per cent where it was ‘African, African Scottish or African British’.

Age of youngest dependent child by household composition

  • In 2011, 26 per cent (616,000) of households in Scotland contained one or more dependent children, including 10 per cent where the youngest dependent child was aged under 5. Of the 263,000 lone parent households, 65 per cent contained dependent children, including 21 per cent where the youngest dependent child was aged under 5.

Length of residence in the UK by household size

  • In 2011, 11 per cent of the household population in Scotland lived in households of five or more people; for people who were born outside the UK this proportion was 15 per cent.

Length of residence in the UK by household type

  • While just over 1 per cent of the household population in Scotland lived in households comprising all full-time students, this proportion was 21 per cent for those born outside the UK who had been resident in the UK for less than two years.

Schoolchildren and full-time students Iiving away from home during term time by sex by age

  • In Scotland, of the 42,000 schoolchildren and full-time students living away from home during term time at the time of the 2011 Census, 14 per cent were aged under 18, 68 per cent were aged 18 to 21 and 18 per cent were aged over 21.
  • Females comprised over half (55 per cent) of the schoolchildren and full-time students living away from home during term time aged 18 to 21 but less than half of those aged under 18 (48 per cent) or aged over 21 (48 per cent).

The other tables included in Release 3D are mainly ‘Local Characteristics’ (LC) versions of tables that have already been published as ‘Detailed Characteristics’ (DC) tables in this or previous releases. They provide information down to census output area (the lowest level of geography for which census tables are produced) but generally include less detailed categories than the DC version of the tables as a statistical disclosure control measure. The tables are on:

  • Marital and civil partnership status by sex by age – Household Reference Persons
  • Marital and civil partnership status by age
  • Living arrangements by age
  • Household composition by sex by age
  • Age of youngest dependent child by household type
  • Household composition by ethnic group of Household Reference Person
  • Country of birth by English language skills
  • Length of residence in the UK by household size
  • Length of residence in the UK by household type

All the data contained in this release can be accessed on the Scotland’s Census website.

Footnote
1. The Household Reference Person (details available on the Scotland census website) is chosen to act as a reference point for producing further derived statistics and for characterising a whole household according to the characteristics of the chosen reference person.

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