Scottish Economic Statistics 2003
chapter four: Labour Market
Population
Census 2001
The General Register for Scotland (GROS) is responsible for the calculation of population estimates for Scotland. As a result of the Census in Scotland 2001, new mid-year estimates at local authority level for the year 2001 have been produced. These show that the population in Scotland in 2001 is around 50 thousand smaller than had previously been estimated. The main reason for the earlier over-estimate is an error in estimating migration. The number of males between the ages of 20 and 45 have been overestimated and the older ages (50 and over) have been underestimated.
The revisions have not been constant across the country. Areas such as Glasgow, Renfrewshire and North Lanarkshire have had their population level overestimated in previous years, whilst other areas such as Dundee City, Argyll & Bute and Moray have had their population levels underestimated. The Scottish Census Results Output Library Project (SCROL) provides access to the standard area statistics from the 2001 Census in Scotland via the GROS website ( www.gro-scotland.gov.uk).
Scottish population profile in 2001
Of the 5.1 million people in Scotland in 2001, 19% were over working age and 19% were under working age. This picture is different for males and females. Twenty per cent of all males were under working age and 13% were over working age, whereas for females, 18% were under working age compared to 23% over working age. There was also considerable variation among local authorities - for example Dumfries and Galloway had 22% of the population older than working age whereas West Lothian had only 14%. Chart 4.1 illustrates that the average age of both males and females increased between the census years 1981 and 2001. This ageing of the population has implications for the labour market.
Chart 4.1a: Number of females, by age, 1981 and 2001 | Chart 4.1b: Number of males, by age, 1981 and 2001 |
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Employment
In the spring of 2002, 73% of working age people in Scotland were in employment, representing an increase of around 7% since 1985. Map 4.1 shows how employment rates vary considerably within Scotland.
Map 4.1: Employment rates by Scottish Local Authority area, 2001
Age
The proportion of working age people in employment increased between 1984 and 2002. This increase has been driven mainly by the higher employment rate for those aged 25 to 49 as the proportions in the 16-24 and the 50-59/64 age brackets remained fairly static over the same time period. The fluctuation between years, which is evident in this chart, can be at least partly attributed to the smaller sample sizes of the smaller age groups.
Industry Sectors
The 'Distribution, hotels and catering and repairs' sector accounted for the largest share of employee jobs, and had experienced significant growth over the period 1996 to 2002, with 536,000 employee jobs in 2002 compared with 496,000 in 1996. However, the 'Banking, finance and insurance' sector had the greatest increase in jobs between 1996 and 2002 with a growth of 29% in employee jobs over the period.
Gender and work pattern
Women made up 47% of the workforce in Scotland in 2002, and overall 70% of working age women were in employment compared with 76% of working age men. The picture for the UK as a whole is very similar, and is above the 2000 EU average rate of 54% of working age women in employment. The 'Public Administration, Education and Health' sector had the greatest proportion of females employees, followed by the 'Distribution, hotels and catering and repairs' sector.
Chart 4.2: Employment rate by age group, 1984 to 2002
Chart 4.3 shows that these two sectors also had the greatest percentage of part-time employee jobs.
In 2002, approximately 9% of all people in employment were self-employed. The rate of self-employment varied significantly between males and females, with only 5% of employed females being self-employed, compared to 13% of males.
Chart 4.3: Percentage of employee jobs which are part-time by sector, 2001
