Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census

The report explores the characteristics of each of the religion groups in Scotland using information collected from the 2001 Census in Scotland.


ANALYSIS OF RELIGION IN THE 2001 CENSUS: Summary Report

2. HOUSING

This chapter presents information on people living in households. A household is defined as:

  • one person living alone, or
  • a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address with common housekeeping - sharing either a living room or sitting room, or at least one meal a day.

Persons living in communal establishments are excluded from the analyses unless otherwise stated. A communal establishment is defined as an establishment providing managed residential accommodation (i.e. full-time or part-time supervision of the accommodation). Examples include prisons, large hospitals and hotels.

Accommodation Type

Over two-thirds (71%) of people in households in Scotland live in a house or bungalow. The remaining 29% of people live in a flat, maisonette or apartment. There are considerable variations across the different religion groups, in terms of the proportions living in houses and those living in flats. It should be noted that the type of housing people stay in will be related to where they live; flats will be more common in urban areas as opposed to rural areas.

Table 2.1: Type of housing by current religion of All People in Households in Unshared Accommodation

Row percentages

House or Bungalow

Flat, Maisonette or apartment

Base

Church of Scotland

76

23

2,111,849

Roman Catholic

66

34

791,696

Other Christian

74

26

333,325

Buddhist

57

43

6,364

Hindu

55

44

5,299

Jewish

62

38

6,187

Muslim

53

47

42,005

Sikh

69

31

6,530

Another Religion

50

50

25,779

No religion

67

33

1,378,308

Not Answered

66

34

265,924

All Religion Groups

71

29

4,973,266

Note: Row percentages may not sum to 100 as a small percentage of people responded that they lived in a caravan or other mobile/temporary structure.

People responding that they have Another Religion are least likely to live in a house (50%). This is followed by Muslims and Hindus with 53% and 55% respectively living in a house/bungalow. This may be partly explained by the high proportion of Muslims and Hindus living in urban areas.

Household Tenure

Table 2.2 presents data on household ownership rates across the different religion groups. Around two-thirds of people aged 16 years and over in Scotland live in owner occupied property.

Of all religion groups, Sikhs and Jewish people are most likely to own their home; over three-quarters of those aged 16 plus in each group did so.

The lowest home ownership rates are experienced by Hindus (59%), Buddhists (60%) and those from Another Religion group (56%).

There are also differences in household tenure across age groups. As expected, younger people are less likely to own their home. However, the level of home ownership among 16-29 year olds varies considerably across religions. Around 80% of Sikhs aged 16-29 own their home, while the comparable figure for Hindus and Buddhists is 40% and 43% respectively.

Table 2.2: Household tenure by current religion of All People in Households aged 16 years and over

Column percentages

All People

Church of Scotland

Roman Catholic

Other Christian

Buddhist

Hindu

Jewish

Muslim

Sikh

Another Religion

No religion

Not Answered

16-29 years

Owned

60

67

59

53

43

40

62

62

80

45

55

56

Rented / Living rent free

40

33

41

47

57

60

38

38

20

55

45

44

30-49 years

Owned

71

74

67

71

62

61

82

65

84

66

70

66

Rented / Living rent free

29

26

33

29

38

39

18

35

16

34

30

34

50-pensionable age

Owned

74

75

65

78

72

91

87

77

84

75

76

69

Rented / Living rent free

26

25

35

22

28

9

13

23

16

25

24

31

Pensionable age-74 years

Owned

67

69

58

75

72

86

83

76

78

71

66

60

Rented / Living rent free

33

31

42

25

28

14

17

24

22

29

34

40

75 years +

Owned

55

56

47

63

49

67

76

72

71

57

57

52

Rented / Living rent free

45

44

53

37

51

33

24

28

29

43

43

48

All Ages (16+)

Owned

67

70

62

69

60

59

79

66

82

56

66

62

Rented / Living rent free

33

30

38

31

40

41

21

34

18

44

34

38

Base

4,007,466

1,794,975

640,262

286,323

5,753

4,402

5,366

28,804

4,787

23,442

1,041,093

172,259

Notes:
1. Owned includes those responding 'owned outright', 'owns with the help of a mortgage or loan', or 'shared ownership'.
2. It is possible that form-fillers on housing benefit may have responded 'living rent free' in response to the Census question on tenure. As a result, the rented and living rent free categories are combined.

Rented Accommodation 6

Hindus are least likely to rent in the public sector, with only 16% renting from the Council, Scottish Homes or Housing Associations.

In contrast, people from Christian religions are most likely to rent in the public sector: 86% of Roman Catholics and 81% of people from the Church of Scotland rent in this sector.

Chart 2.1: Rented accommodation by current religion of All People in Rented Accommodation

Percentages

G11

Note: Social rented accommodation includes those homes that are rented from the Council (or Scottish Homes), Registered Social Landlords and Housing Associations. Private rented accommodation includes those homes that are rented from a private landlord or letting agency, employer of a household member, relatives or friends, and any others.

Further information on the landlord of those living in rented accommodation can be found in Table 2.3.

Not surprisingly, around two-thirds (66%) of Hindus rent from a private landlord or letting agency. As mentioned before, this group are least likely to rent from a public landlord; only 11% of Hindus rent from the council and 5% rent from a housing association or similar.

Around two-thirds of Roman Catholics and people from the Church of Scotland rent their home from the council.

Only a small proportion of people rent their accommodation from family or friends. Jews (7%), Muslims (6%), Sikhs (6%) and those from other religions (6%) have the highest proportion of people privately renting from family or friends.

Table 2.3: Landlord by current religion of All People in Rented Accommodation

Row percentages

Social Rented:

Social Rented:

Private Rented:

Private Rented:

Private Rented:

Private Rented:

Council (or Scottish Homes)

Housing association charitable trust or similar

Private landlord or letting agency

Employer of a household member

Relative or friend of a household member

Other

Base

Church of Scotland

67

14

12

3

3

1

626,029

Roman Catholic

68

18

11

1

2

1

295,268

Other Christian

45

13

28

6

4

4

103,711

Buddhist

28

13

46

3

5

5

2,576

Hindu

11

5

66

6

3

9

2,135

Jewish

30

19

39

2

7

3

1,242

Muslim

35

16

38

2

6

4

14,638

Sikh

36

16

38

2

6

2

1,171

Another Religion

27

10

53

2

6

3

11,058

No religion

60

15

20

2

3

1

499,415

Not Answered

65

17

14

1

2

1

116,660

All Religion Groups

63

15

16

2

3

1

1,673,903

Communal Establishments 7

Table 2.4: People living in communal establishments by current religion - All People
Percentages

% of all people living in medical and care establishments

% of all people living in other types of communal establishments

% of all people living in communal establishments

Base

Church of Scotland

1.2

0.4

1.6

2,146,251

Roman Catholic

0.8

0.7

1.5

803,732

Other Christian

1.2

2.0

3.2

344,562

Buddhist

0.6

6.0

6.5

6,830

Hindu

0.4

4.3

4.6

5,564

Jewish

2.5

1.5

4.0

6,448

Muslim

0.1

1.0

1.0

42,557

Sikh

0.2

0.3

0.5

6,572

Another Religion

0.3

3.8

4.2

26,974

No religion

0.3

0.8

1.1

1,394,460

Not Answered

2.7

1.6

4.3

278,061

All Religion Groups

0.9

0.8

1.7

5,062,011

Buddhists have the highest proportion of people living in communal establishments (6.5%). In comparison, only 0.5% of Sikhs live in communal establishments.

The Jewish group has the highest proportion of people living in medical and care establishments at 2.5%. This is followed by people from the Church of Scotland and Other Christians at 1.2% respectively for each group. The older age profiles of these groups may explain the high proportions in such communal establishments.

Occupancy Rating

The occupancy rating relates the actual number of rooms in a household to the number of rooms required by the household. It is calculated by taking into account the number of people in the household, their ages and their relationship. The occupancy rating highlights households with excess rooms and those with too few rooms (over crowding).

An occupancy rating equal to 0 indicates that the actual number of rooms is equal to the standard required. A rating greater than 0 indicates that there are more rooms than the minimum standard required. However, a rating less than 0 indicates there are fewer rooms than are required and thus the home is over-crowded.

Chart 2.2: Occupancy Rating by current religion of Household Reference Person (HRP) - All HRPs

Percentages

bar chart

Note: The criteria for selecting the HRP is based on economic activity, then age, then order on the form.

Chart 2.2 shows that Muslim households have the highest incidence of households living below the occupancy rating standard, i.e. overcrowded according to this standard (33%). Sikh households have the second highest proportion at 24%.

Jewish households and Other Christian households are least likely to be living below the occupancy rating standard (9% for both groups).

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