6. How we live
Introduction
This chapter focuses on household resources. It looks at ownership of material possessions, financial resources of different types and use of credit. It also covers internet use, including broadband access. The section also examines health and ill-health, the provision and receipt of childcare and care for the adult population.
Please refer to Chapter 2 for more information about interpreting the information in the tables in this section.
Cars and driving
Just over two-thirds of households (68%) have access to at least one car for private use. Over three-quarters of households (78%) where the Highest Income Householder ( HIH) is male have access to a car, compared with 52% of households with a female HIH ( Table 6.1). Almost all (99%) households with a net annual income over £40,000 a year have access to a car for private use, compared with only 38% of households with a net annual income of £6,000 or less ( Table 6.3).
Over half of households (57%) in the most deprived SIMD quintile do not have access to a car compared with 14% of those in the least deprived SIMD quintile ( Table 6.5)
The proportion of households with access to two or more cars has increased from 17.8% in 1999 to 24.1% in 2005 ( Table 6.7). Households in rural areas are more likely than those in urban areas to have access to two or more cars. ( Table 6.9).
Table 6.13 shows drivers' means of making various types of journey. Drivers are most likely to use a car for supermarket shopping (87% always use a car for this) and visiting friends and relatives (68% always use a car for this). The majority of drivers say they always use a car to see a G.P. (63%) and for town centre shopping (58%).
Internet access and use
Over half (53%) of adults use the internet ( Table 6.17). Internet use declines markedly with age, from 76% of those aged 16-24 to just 7% of those aged 75 and over ( Table 6.18). Half (50%) of households have home internet access ( Table 6.23). Of households with a net annual income of over £40,000, 93% have home internet access. This compares with 23% of households with a net annual income of £6,000 or less (Table 6.25). Just under a third (32%) of households in the most deprived SIMD quintile have home internet access compared with over two-thirds (68%) of households in the least deprived SIMD quintile ( Table 6.27). Just over a third (35%) of adults in Scotland have broadband internet access with this being more common in urban areas. Just over a third (34%) of adults in urban areas had broadband access compared with 25% in remote rural areas ( Table 6.33).
Among the adults in Scotland who use the internet, the most common purposes are for using e-mail (87%), general browsing or surfing (77%) and finding information about goods/services (70%) ( Table 6.37).
Financial resources
Forty six percent (46%) have a net annual household income of £15,000 or less. The majority of household with one adult i.e. single pensioner households (89%), single parent households (66%) and single adult households (64%) have an income of £15,000 or less. Only 8% of households have a net annual income of more than £40,000 ( Table 6.42) 13.
Just over half of all households (51%) have savings or investments. Only 20% of single parent households have savings or investments ( Table 6.46). The proportion of households with a bank or building society account has increased since 1999 - 85.8% had an account in 1999 compared with 91.1 % in 2005 ( Table 6.56).
Just under half of households (48%) say they manage financially very or quite well and 42% say they get by alright financially. Of the remaining households, 4% 'don't manage very well' financially; 5% have some financial difficulties and 1% report being in 'deep financial difficulties' ( Table 6.68).
Use of Credit
Around two-thirds of households (65%) say they use at least one form of credit to purchase goods; the most common form is 'credit cards', reported by 52% of households ( Table 6.58). Reported use of credit is most common among those where the householder or their partner is aged between 25-59 ( Table 6.58) and increases as household income increases ( Table 6.59). Over half of households in the most deprived SIMD quintile (53%) do not use any form of credit to purchase goods; in the least deprived SIMD quintile 17% do not use credit ( Table 6.61).
Twenty eight percent (28%) of households say they have used credit to borrow money in the past 12 months; the most common form of such credit is a bank overdraft (12%) ( Table 6.63). Use of credit to borrow money decreases as the age of household respondent increases; 47% of households where the household respondent is 16-24 have used credit to borrow money in the past 12 months compared with 6% of households where the household respondent is aged 75 or more. The use of any form of credit to borrow money increases as income increases ( Table 6.64). There is no significant variation in the use of credit to borrow money across households by SIMD quintile.
Childcare
Just under half of households with children use some form of childcare (43%). The most common form of childcare is a relative, used in 27% of cases. 10% of households with children use a nursery ( Table 6.74).
The main reason given for using childcare is 'to enable self/partner to work (66%). Other reasons include 'for child's development (17%) and 'to give self/partner more time to do things' (21%) ( Table 6.75).
Virtually all users of childcare strongly agree or agree that they are 'satisfied with childcare' (94%) and that the 'childcare meets my needs' (94%) ( Table 6.77).
Health and caring
Over time smoking has decreased in Scotland; 30% of adults smoked in 1999 compared with 26% in 2005 and 25% in 2006 ( Table 6.79). Overall, men and women are equally likely to smoke, although there is some variation by age. Males aged 25 to 34 are most likely to smoke, with 35% doing so ( Figure 6.1). Incidence of smoking increases with deprivation, 41% of adults in the most deprived SIMD quintile smoke compared with 13% in the least deprived SIMD quintile ( Table 6.81).
Just over half of adults (53%) perceive their health to be 'good' and a further third (33%) perceive it to be 'fairly good'. 14% perceive their health to be 'not good' ( Table 6.84). The percentage perceiving their health to be 'good' is lower for those who smoke (46%) than for those who don't (56%) ( Table 6.86). In the most deprived SIMD quintile, 41% perceive their health to be 'good' and 23% to be 'not good'. In contrast, 64% in the least deprived quintile perceive their health to be 'good' and 8% perceive it to be 'not good' ( Table 6.88).
Around a third of all households (34%) contain at least one person with a long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability ( Table 6.90). Households with low net annual incomes are most likely to contain someone with a long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability: 41% of households with a net annual income of £6,000 or less, and 51% of households with a net annual income of £6,001 to £10,000. In comparison, 12% of households with a net annual income of over £40,000 contain someone with a long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability ( Table 6.91). Older smaller households and single pensioner households are most likely to contain someone with a long-standing limiting illness, health problem or disability (53% of both) ( Table 6.92).
Just over one in nine (12%) of all households contain someone who needs regular help or care because they are sick, disabled or elderly. Households with at least one person who needs regular help or care because they are sick, disabled or elderly are more prevalent in social rented housing than in other tenure types ( Table 6.103). Overall, just under half (45%) of households with at least one person requiring regular help or care have 1 carer from outwith the household, while 32% have 1 carer within the household ( Table 6.107).
Just over a third (35%) of adults with a long standing illness, health problem or disability have adaptations made to their home or specialist equipment ( Table 6.99). The most common forms of adaptations and equipment are handrails (54%), walking sticks/crutches (50%) and bath/shower seats (41%). The most commonly needed adaptations and equipment are handrails (23%) bath/shower seats (17%) and stair lifts (17%) ( Table 6.100).