Scottish Government

Living In Scotland: An Urban-Rural Analysis Of The Scottish Household Survey

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction: The Scottish Household Survey and the Urban-Rural Classification

• This report seeks to identify and describe the key socio-economic differences and similarities between urban, small town and rural Scotland, based upon an analysis of data collected by the 1999-2000 Scottish Household Survey (SHS).
• Since 1999 the SHS has collected information, on a wide range of social and economic issues, from a sample of 15,000 households across Scotland.
• The need to monitor rural-urban change was anticipated in the design of the SHS. Each surveyed household has been classified according to an 8-fold urban-rural typology of areas recently developed by the Scottish Executive (for a map see Appendix 1).
• This classification is based on twin criteria of population size and remoteness (measured by drive time). Due to small cell sizes in some analysis, this is often collapsed into a 6-fold classification, and in some cases a binary division between urban and rural areas is used.
• The report is structured around five themes; general household and individual characteristics, economic activity and employment, income and poverty, health and access to health services, and neighbourhood/community.

Social and Demographic Characteristics

• The characteristics of the different urban and rural areas in terms of social and demographic characteristics are addressed in the main text of Chapter 2, while parallel analysis of the experiences of various social groups, lone parents, adults with disabilities, the over 50s, and adults of working age, is presented in Appendix 3.
• In many respects the social and demographic characteristics of rural and small town households were found not to differ significantly from those of urban Scotland. The main exceptions are listed below:
• The effects of "life-cycle migration" mean that single person (non-pensioner) households are more common in large urban areas than elsewhere, while pensioner households were relatively more common in remote rural areas (Table 2.1).
• For similar reasons, the age structure was rather younger, and there was a higher proportion of single adults, in the cities compared with rural areas (Tables 2.6, 2.7).
• Furthermore, data relating to household/employment status showed concentrations of younger couples, with or without children, but both working, in accessible rural areas and small towns (Table 2.2).
• The nature of the data precludes a direct analysis of the respondent's length of residence in the area. However, with regard residence in their present house, urban areas had higher proportions of people who had lived at their current address for less than 1 year, and rural areas had more people who had lived in their home for over 30 years (Table 2.10).
• Rural households were more likely to own one or more cars than those living in cities (Table 2.3)
• Tenure differed markedly by area (Table. 2.4), with more owner occupation and private renting, and less socially rented housing in remote rural areas.
• Detached houses were relatively more common in rural areas, whilst terraced houses and flats were relatively less common (Table 2.5).
• Accessible rural areas and remote rural areas contained a higher proportion of people in the managerial social class than urban areas (Table 2.9).
• There was a slight tendency for rural and remote residents to be more likely to have a degree or professional qualification than those in small towns or cities. Those in the largest cities (where most of the Higher Education establishments are) were more likely to have a degree (Table 2.8).
• Lone parents in remote rural areas were more likely to have been married and now split from their partner, (Table A2.4.2) whilst urban lone parents were more likely never to have been married.

Economic Activity and Employment

• The characteristics of the different urban and rural areas in terms of economic activity and employment are addressed in the main text of Chapter 3, while parallel analysis of the experiences of various social groups, lone parents, adults with disabilities, the over 50s and pensioners, is presented in Appendix 3.
• In general terms, economic activity/employment rates were highest in accessible rural areas, while unemployment was slightly more common in large urban areas, and in remote rural areas and small towns. Self employment was more common in rural and remote areas, while the number of students and permanently sick or disabled respondents was relatively greater in the larger cities (Table 3.1).
• The 1999-2000 SHS data provides no evidence to support the assumption that either self employment or employment is more likely to be part time or temporary in rural or remote parts of Scotland (Tables 3.3, 3.4). Neither is there evidence of an increased proclivity for multiple job holding in rural areas (Table 3.5).
• Almost one third of self-employed people living in remote small towns were employers and managers of small establishments, compared to a national average of 21% (Table 3.6). Self-employed workers in large urban areas were more likely to be professional than those in remote small towns and rural locations.
• In terms of full time employment, the main occupational variation was found between accessible and remote areas rather than between urban and rural areas (Table 3.7). Remote small towns show a distinctive employment profile among full time workers - above average proportions of skilled manual workers and foremen/supervisors, but below average numbers of professional workers (Table 3.7).
• 18% of all lone parents were working full time, 20% were working part-time and 41% were looking after the home and family (Table A3.1). Lone parents in remote rural areas were more likely to be employed than their counterparts in large urban areas (56% compared to 36%).
• Permanently sick or disabled people in rural areas were more likely to be in employment than those in more urban and accessible areas (Table A3.2).

Income and Poverty

• Almost two in five of Scottish households had an income of less than 10,000 pa (Table 4.1). Lower incomes are more common at both ends of the rural-urban continuum, in the large cities and in the remote rural areas.
• Just over one quarter of Scottish households had an annual net income of over 20,000. The proportion rose to over one-third in the accessible rural areas (Table 4.1).
• 15% of all respondents were not managing financially, had some financial difficulties or were experiencing deep financial difficulties (Table 4.2), but there were no marked differences between areas
• Over half of all households indicated that they had some savings or investments (Table 4.3). This appeared more common in rural areas than in urban areas (Table 4.3).
• 60% of lone parents surveyed had an annual income of less than 10,000 (Table 4.4). More than a third felt that they were not managing very well, having some financial difficulties or having deep financial difficulties (Table 4.5). Lone parents in remote rural areas were particularly likely to struggle financially. Lone parent households were only half as likely to have savings or investments compared with the population as a whole (Table 4.6).
• Almost two thirds of Scottish pensioner households received an annual income of less than 10,000 (Table 4.7). Better off pensioners were more common in the accessible and remote rural areas, while those with low incomes were more common in the urban areas and small towns.
• The incidence of household poverty appeared slightly lower in accessible small towns and accessible rural areas than in the other areas (Table 4.8).
• The situations most associated with household poverty are (Table A4.1):-
  • where the highest income householder is over 60
  • female head of household
  • people living on their own or a lone parent
  • households where one of the members has a limiting illness, health problem or disability
  • those living in social or privately rented housing
  • where the highest income householder has no educational qualifications
  • workless households - for both single people and couples
• Almost one third of children in Scotland live in households with an income below 60% of the median - with 23% in rural areas and 31% in urban areas (Table 4.9). In the large urban areas the proportion rises to 35% (Table 4.10).
• The difference in the incidence of child poverty between urban and rural areas seems to be associated with factors such as family size, educational qualifications of parents, parental unemployment and disability (Table 4.11).
• On average 44% of Scottish pensioner households in the SHS sample may be defined as living in poverty (below 60% of median income levels). However in the remote rural areas the proportion rose to over half (Table 4.13). The lowest proportion of pensioners in this category (35%) lived in the large cities. Pensioner poverty was often associated with age (those just over retirement are tended to be better off than those over 70), and disability (Table 4.15).

Health and Access to Health Services

• Respondents living in large and other urban areas were most likely to say that their health was not good, while those in rural and remote areas were more likely to claim good health (Table 5.1).
• Respondents in rural areas were slightly less likely to report a combination of ill health and limiting longstanding disability or poor health (Table 5.2).
• Unskilled manual workers in all areas were particularly likely to suffer ill health (Table 5.3).
• Smoking was found to be slightly less common in rural and remote areas than in urban areas or accessible small towns (Table 5.4).
• Living in a remote or rural area did not appear to be a deterrent from visiting the GP (Tables 5.5 and 5.6).
• Overall, 81% of the population reported that it was very or fairly convenient to access their GP (Table 5.7). Access was most convenient in remote small towns (89%), and least convenient in accessible rural areas (77%) and remote rural areas (79%).
• Almost one fifth of all carless households reported that access to their GP was either fairly or very inconvenient, rising to more than a quarter in remote rural areas (Table 5.8). 40% of car owners reported that GP access was very convenient, rising to 50% in remote rural towns compared to only 36% in remote rural areas.
• Nine out of ten respondents who visited their GP recently reported they were either very or fairly satisfied with their treatment, and this is sustained across all areas (Table 5.9).
• There was greater urban-rural variation in perceived accessibility to chemists. Almost a third of respondents in remote rural areas found it inconvenient to access this service. In urban and small town environments the proportion was less than one tenth.
• Respondents living in remote small towns with access to a car recorded the highest level of convenience to hospital out-patient facilities (73% found this very or fairly convenient). 70% of remote small town dwellers without car access also found it very or fairly convenient to access these services. In contrast, only 44% of those with a car in remote rural areas and 32% of those with no car found hospital out-patient access convenient (Table 5.13).
• People with long standing illness/disability tended to have greater difficulty accessing health related services (regardless of location) but at the same time tended to be more satisfied with the service they had received (Appendix 5).
• Although there was no urban-rural difference in the percentage of respondents who were in receipt of home visits by health/social workers or professionals (about 15%), there was a tendency for a higher proportion of this care to be provided by the public sector in urban areas, while in rural areas the private sector was more important (Figure 5.3).
• One in ten SHS respondents provided some form of care for others, in all areas this was most commonly a parent or in-law. Caring for friends and neighbours was more common in rural areas than in urban ones (Figure 5.6, 5.7).
• Overall, about one in ten care providers considered that their commitment prevented them from taking up paid employment. In rural areas this proportion rose to 17% (Table 5.14).

Neighbourhood and Community

• SHS respondents demonstrated a high level of satisfaction with their local neighbourhoods across all types of area, with only a slight difference between large urban areas and the rest of Scotland (Table 6.1).
• Older respondents and managerial, professional and skilled workers tended to rate rural living environments more highly, while unskilled and manual workers seemed to favour small towns (Figures A6.1 and A6.2).
• Urban residents appreciate the convenience of the services and facilities in their areas (e.g. transport, shops, leisure services), while rural dwellers are more likely to mention the attractiveness of the local environment (Figures 6.1).
• Residents of remote small towns express similar levels of satisfaction concerning access to and quality of local services as those in larger urban areas, and so might be benefiting from living in self-sufficient centres of service provision (Figure 6.1).
• The contrast between urban and rural areas in relation to certain neighbour problems is clear but not surprising: residents in urban areas are more concerned than those in rural areas about young people hanging around, vandalism, crime and substance misuse (Figure 6.2).
• Levels of social interaction tend to be fairly similar between rural and urban areas, a greater reliance upon telephones compensating for distance in remoter rural areas (Table 6.3).
• Levels of community involvement were found to be greater in rural and remote areas than in urban and accessible areas (Table 6.4).
• Levels of trust between friends and neighbours were higher in rural areas than in small towns or urban areas (Figures 6.3-5).