Census 2011: Release 3I

Census 2011: Release 3I - Detailed characteristics on Labour Market and Education in Scotland

The statistics published today by the Registrar General for Scotland on the Scotland’s Census website present further details on labour market and education (Release 3I), from national to local level.

Key points - Release 3I

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification by sex by age

• The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC) provides an indication of the socio-economic position of people based on their occupation and employment status.
• At the time of the 2011 Census, the largest NS-SeC group was ‘Lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations’ at 20 per cent (803,000) of the 4.0 million people aged 16 to 74 in Scotland. This proportion was highest for those aged 35 to 49 (25 per cent) and lowest for those aged 16 to 24 (6 per cent). It was 18 per cent for males and 23 per cent for females.
• The NS-SeC group ‘Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations’ accounted for 9 per cent of the population aged 16 to 74; it was 11 per cent for males and 6 per cent for females. The proportion was highest in the 35 to 49 age group for males (14 per cent) and the 25 to 34 age group for females (9 per cent)
• The smallest NS-SeC group was ‘Small employers and own account workers’ at 7 per cent (295,000 people). This proportion was 11 per cent of males and 4 per cent of females. This proportion increased with age, rising from 1 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 to 10 per cent of those aged 50 to 74.
• The ‘Never worked and long-term unemployed’ category represented 5 per cent (199,000) of the population aged 16 to 74. This proportion decreased with age: it was 8 per cent for those aged 16 to 24 and 4 per cent for those aged 50 to 64.

 National Statistics Socio-economic Classification by highest level of qualification by age

• In 2011, over one quarter (27 per cent) of the 4.0 million people aged 16 to 74 in Scotland had achieved Census Level 4 (degree level) or above qualifications, while 23 per cent held no qualifications.
• Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) of the NS-SeC group ‘Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations’ had achieved Census Level 4 or above qualifications with just 3 per cent holding no qualification.
• Of those in the ‘Never worked and long-term unemployed’ category, just over half (51 per cent) held no qualifications while 8 per cent had achieved Census Level 4 or above qualifications. For those aged 16 to 24 these proportions were 33 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

 Approximated Social Grade by sex by age

• In 2011, almost one-third (31 per cent) of the 3.4 million people aged 16 to 64 living in households in Scotland had an approximated social grade of C1 (‘Supervisory, clerical junior management/administrative/professional’). The next most common category was DE (‘Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers; on state benefit, unemployed, lowest grade workers’) at 26 per cent, followed by C2 (‘Skilled manual workers’) at 24 per cent. The AB category (‘Higher and intermediate managerial/administrative/professional’) was the smallest category at 19 per cent.
• The proportion of males in the C1 category (30 per cent) was slightly lower than the proportion for females (33 per cent). The reverse applied for the C2 category, where the proportion for males (26 per cent) was higher than the proportion for females (21 per cent).
• The proportion of people in the AB category was highest in the 30 to 39 age group at 23 per cent.

 Industry by ethnic group by age

• In Scotland there were 2.5 million people aged 16 to 74 in employment the week before the 2011 Census. Of these people, 15 per cent worked in the ‘Retail activities’ sector and a further 15 per cent in the ‘Health and social work’ sector.
• Relatively high proportions of the 56,000 people in the ‘Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British’ ethnic group worked in the ‘Retail activities’ (21 per cent) and ‘Accommodation and food service activities’ sectors (20 per cent). These proportions were 15 per cent and 6 per cent respectively for all people aged 16 to 74 in employment.
• While 15 per cent of all those aged 16 to 74 in employment worked in the ‘Health and social work’ sector, this proportion was 28 per cent for those in the ‘African’ ethnic group and 22 per cent for those in the ‘Caribbean or Black’ ethnic group. For people aged 50 to 64 in the ‘African’ and ‘Caribbean or Black’ ethnic groups, this proportion was 41 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.
• The proportion of people in the ‘White’ ethnic group working in the ‘Manufacturing’ and ‘Construction’ sectors was 16 per cent. The corresponding proportion for minority ethnic groups was 6 per cent.

 Occupation by ethnic group by sex by age

• In 2011, relatively high proportions of people in the minority ethnic groups were in ‘Professional occupations’ compared with those in the ‘White’ ethnic group, 25 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
• By contrast, relatively low proportions of people in the minority ethnic groups were employed in the occupation categories of ‘Administrative and secretarial occupations’ ( 7 per cent), ‘Skilled trade occupations’  (9 per cent) and ‘Process, plant and machine operatives’ (4 per cent). The corresponding proportions for people in the ‘White’ ethnic group were 12 per cent, 13 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.

 Economic Activity of full-time students by student accommodation by age

• In 2011, 52 per cent of the 361,000 full-time students in Scotland aged 16 and over lived with their parents, 17 per cent lived in all-student households, 6 per cent lived alone, 15 per cent lived in other types of households (eg living with a partner, spouse or children) and 10 per cent lived in communal establishments such as university halls of residence.
• The proportion of full-time students who lived with their parents varied considerably with age: it was 81 per cent for those aged 16 to 19, 32 per cent for those aged 20 to 24 and 10 per cent for those aged 25 and over.
• All-student households was the most common type of accommodation for full-time students aged 20 to 24 (38 per cent), while for those aged 25 and over it was living in ‘other’ types of households (53 per cent).
• Almost one third (32 per cent) of full-time students aged 16 and over were in employment, 9 per cent were economically active but unemployed and 59 per cent were economically inactive.

The tables of census results covered in Release 3I are listed below. They are a mixture of ‘Detailed Characteristics’ (DC) and ‘Local Characteristics’ (LC) tables. DC versions of tables include the most complex cross-tabulations and are therefore not available at smaller geographic areas (generally available down to postcode sectors). LC versions of tables include less complex cross-tabulations and are therefore available down to the lowest geographic levels (generally census output areas). In some instances, no LC version of a table is produced as a statistical disclosure control measure. Similarly, the DC version of some tables is produced for council areas only.

Tables included in Release 3I

All the data contained in this release can be accessed on the Scotland’s Census website.