More women receive income support than men. The difference between sexes is mainly due to more women qualifying for income support for lone parents. In the 15% most deprived areas, one in four women (25 per cent) and just under one in six men (16 per cent) are receiving income support. The number of people receiving income support fell between 2003 and 2004. This decrease is partially due to changes in the benefit system, with certain groups of income support recipients now receiving tax credits instead. For example the child tax credit replaced the dependent element of income support in 2004 (for more information about changes to the benefits system see Appendix 1).
Chart 3.6: Percentage of population aged 60 and over receiving Guaranteed Pension Credit, 2004
Percentages
Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate
In the 15% most deprived areas more than one in three people aged 60 or over are receiving the GPC compared to one in six in the rest of Scotland.
In Scotland, 20 per cent of people aged 60 and over (215,325 people) receive the GPC. People aged 75 and above are twice as likely to receive the GPC compared to people aged between 60 and 74 (Chart 3.6).
In the 15% most deprived areas nearly half of people aged 75 and over and a third of people aged 60 to 74 receive GPC. This compares to receipt rates in the rest of Scotland of just over a quarter of people aged 75 and over and a twelfth (one in eight) of people aged 60 to 74. In the 15% most deprived areas 55 per cent of people aged 75 or over are receiving either the GPC or the SPC. The proportions of people aged 75 and over who are receiving only the SPC is similar in the 15% most deprived areas (one in 11) and the rest of Scotland (one in 12). It is possible that many of the older recipients of the pension credit are widowed women who may not have built up a sufficient pension in their own right and are therefore reliant on a widow's pension.
Financial Inclusion
The Scottish Executive is working to promote financial inclusion, access for individuals to appropriate financial products and services, including money advice and financial capability, through its Financial Inclusion Action Plan. Financial exclusion is often a symptom of poverty as well as a cause.
Key points
- People living in the 15% most deprived areas are more likely to say they are 'having financial difficulties' (nine per cent) or are 'in deep financial trouble' (two per cent) than those in the rest of Scotland (four per cent say they have financial difficulties; one per cent say they are in deep financial trouble).
- In 2003, 21 per cent of people or their partners in the 20% most deprived areas did not have a bank account (compared with one per cent in the 20% least deprived areas), however this percentage has fallen from 29 per cent in 1999.
- Twenty-seven per cent of people in the 15% most deprived areas had savings or investments compared with 58 per cent in the rest of Scotland.
- Sixty per cent of people in the 15% most deprived areas have household contents insurance compared with 87 per cent in the rest of Scotland.
The Scottish Household Survey ( SHS) currently asks some questions about finances such as savings, contents insurance, bank accounts and how households manage financially.
When asked how their household was managing financially, 46 per cent of SHS respondents across Scotland in 2001/2 said that they were managing quite well or very well. In the 15% most deprived areas, however, 28 per cent of respondents said that they were managing well, and were most likely to say that they 'get by alright' (52 per cent). At the other extreme, those in the 15% most deprived areas were more likely to say that they were having some financial difficulties (nine per cent) or were in deep financial trouble (two per cent) than the rest of Scotland (four per cent with financial difficulties and one per cent in deep financial trouble). It is important to note that perceptions and expectations of how people are managing financially are likely to be related to how deprived an individual is, however, older people are known to be less likely to say they are in financial difficulty even if they are poor.
Table 3.7: How the household is managing financially these days, 2001/2
Column percentages, adult population | 15% Most Deprived | Rest of Scotland | Scotland |
|---|
Manage very well | 6 | 16 | 14 |
|---|
Manage quite well | 22 | 34 | 32 |
|---|
Get by alright | 52 | 40 | 42 |
|---|
Don't manage very well | 10 | 5 | 5 |
|---|
Have some financial difficulties | 9 | 4 | 5 |
|---|
Are in deep financial trouble | 2 | 1 | 1 |
|---|
Base | 4,365 | 26,040 | 30,405 |
|---|
Source: Scottish Household Survey
Note: This question was not asked in the 2003 SHS survey, percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
In 2003, seven per cent of all respondents said that they or their partner did not have a bank or building society account (Table 3.8). The number of people without a bank or building society account has decreased considerably in the 20% most deprived areas from 29 per cent in 1999 to 21 per cent in 2003. In the 20% least deprived areas, one per cent were without a bank account.
Table 3.8: Percentage of households where neither Highest Income Householder nor partner has a bank or building society account
Cell percentages, households | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|
Quintile 1 - Most deprived | 29 | 29 | 29 | 23 | 21 |
|---|
Quintile 2 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
|---|
Quintile 3 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
|---|
Quintile 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
|---|
Quintile 5 - Least deprived | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
|---|
All households in Scotland | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 |
|---|
Source: Scottish Household Survey
Note: Respondents may have Credit Union or Post Office Accounts.
SHS respondents from the 15% most deprived areas were much less likely than those in the rest of Scotland to say that they or their partner had any savings or investments (27 per cent in the 15% most deprived areas had savings or investments compared with 58 per cent in the rest of Scotland).
Table 3.9: Possession of savings or investments, 2003
Column percentages, adult populationWhether respondent or partner has any savings or investments | | 15% Most deprived | Rest of Scotland | Scotland |
|---|
Yes | 27 | 58 | 53 |
|---|
No | 64 | 34 | 38 |
|---|
Refused | 8 | 7 | 7 |
|---|
Don't know | 1 | 1 | 1 |
|---|
Base | 4,394 | 26,132 | 30,526 |
|---|
Source: Scottish Household Survey
Possession of home contents insurance also varied by level of deprivation. In 2003, 40 per cent of respondents living in the 15% most deprived areas said that they did not have home contents insurance, compared with 13 per cent in the rest of Scotland (Table 3.10).