Census 2011: Key results on Education and Labour Market in Scotland – Release 2B

The statistics published today by the Registrar General for Scotland on the Scotland’s Census website, provide estimates of the population relating to Education and the Labour Market at all levels of geography from national level down to output area. In addition, the key results on Population, Ethnicity, Identity, Language, Religion, Health, Housing and Accommodation in Scotland - from release 2A are now available at all levels of geography from national level down to output area.

Key points

Highest level of qualification

• In the 2011 Census, just over quarter (26 per cent, 1.1 million) of the population in Scotland aged 16 and over had achieved Census Level 4 or above qualifications, such as a university degree. This proportion was highest in the City of Edinburgh (41 per cent) and lowest in West Dunbartonshire (17 per cent).
• Just over a quarter (27 per cent, 1.2 million) of the population aged 16 and over held no qualifications. This proportion was lowest in the City of Edinburgh (17 per cent) and highest in East Ayrshire (34 per cent).

Economic activity

• Of the 4.0 million people in Scotland aged between 16 and 74, 69 per cent (2.7 million) were economically active (either working or looking for work). The proportions of economically active males and females were 74 per cent and 64 per cent respectively. 
• The largest category of economically active people was full-time employees, who represented 40 per cent (1.6 million) of the total 16 to 74 year-old population, followed by part-time employees at 13 per cent (530,000). 
• In terms of proportions, almost five times more females were part-time employees compared with males (33 per cent of economically active females compared with 7 per cent of economically active males).
• Between 2001 and 2011, the proportion of economically active people aged 16 to 74
• increased by four percentage points, from 65 per cent (2.4 million) in 2001 to 69 per cent (2.7 million) in 2011, with the largest increase being for part-time employees.
• Retired people represented 15 per cent of all 16 to 74 year-olds, and accounted for approaching half (48 per cent) of the economically inactive in this age group.

Hours worked

• In 2011, just over half (51 per cent) of the 2.5 million employed people aged 16 to 74 in Scotland worked 38 hours or more in a typical week in their main job; 39 per cent (984,000) worked between 38 and 48 hours and 12 per cent (295,000) worked 49 hours or more.

Unemployment

• Seven per cent (189,000) of the economically active population in Scotland aged between 16 and 74 were unemployed, excluding full-time students looking for work. This was slightly higher than the 2001 figure of 6 per cent (148,000). 
• The proportion of economically active people aged 16 to 74 who were unemployed (excluding economically active full-time students looking for work) ranged from 10 per cent in North Ayrshire and Glasgow City (7,000 and 30,000 people respectively) to 3 per cent in the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and Aberdeenshire (350, 390 and 5,000 people respectively)

Industry

• ‘Health and social work’ and ‘Retail activities’ were the two largest industry sectors in 2011 in terms of the number of employed people aged 16 to 74, each accounting for 15 per cent (377,000) of this population. 
• The proportion of males working in the ‘Construction’, ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Transport and storage’ sectors was much higher than the proportion of females, while there were higher proportions of females than males working in ‘Health and social work’ and ‘Education’ sectors.

Occupation

• The largest category of occupation was ‘Professional occupations’, employing 17 per cent of all employed people aged 16 to 74. 
• Around nine times more males than females worked in ‘Skilled trades occupations’ and seven times more males than females worked as ‘Process, plant and machine operatives’.
• In contrast, around five times more females than males worked in ‘Caring, leisure and other service occupations’ and four times more females worked in ‘Administrative and secretarial occupations’.

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC)

• ‘Lower managerial and professional occupations’ was the largest socio-economic group, which represented 20 per cent (803,000 people) of the population aged 16 to 74. 
• There were more females than males in the ‘Intermediate occupations’ category (18 per cent of females compared with 7 per cent of males). This category includes clerical and administrative occupations.
• In contrast, the ‘Lower supervisory and technical occupations’ category represents 12 per cent of all 16 to 74 year-old males, compared with 4 per cent of all 16 to 74 year-old females. 

The full publication, ‘2011 Census: Key Results on Education and Labour Market in Scotland - Release 2B’ and relevant data can be found on the Scotland's Census website.