Social Security Experience Panels: agency buildings

This report details the key themes from research into social security client expectations on agency buildings, facilities and privacy.


Paper applications

Finally, we asked survey respondents if they would ever want to apply for a benefit using a paper application form.

Over four in ten said they would always apply by paper (44 per cent) and just under a third said they would apply by paper sometimes (32 per cent). A quarter of respondents (25 per cent) said they would never want to apply by paper.

Table 19: Respondent preferences on applying by paper (n=143)

Preference %
Would always by paper 44
Would sometimes apply by paper 32
Would never apply by paper 25
Total 101

A chi-square test of association revealed that age[20] and desire to apply using a paper based form were significantly associated[21].

Just under a third of respondents under the age of 60 (32 per cent) said they would never want to apply with a paper form, however less than one in ten respondents aged over 60 said this (9 per cent).

The cross-tabulation of the data[22] as presented in Table 20 gives a broad indication of the the direction of association of age and desire to communicate through paper-based means, with the desire weakest amongst respondents aged between 25-44, and increasing with age.

Table 20: Cross-tabulation of age and desire to use paper-based applications

  % within age group
Age range Wants to use paper-based applications Does not want to use paper-based applications
25 – 44 53 47
45 – 59 72 28
60 - 79 91 9

Contact

Email: James.Miller@gov.Scot

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