data.gov.scot
There has been a change to the scores of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index 2020 following a revision of the data in ONS Time Use Survey: Time Use in Scotland 2020, released in September 2023.
Changes to the scores are as follows:
Scotland’s Gender Equality Index 2020 sets a baseline against which Scotland will be able to measure its future progress towards gender equality. Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is designed to represent gender equality numerically, with a score of one indicating no gender equality and a score of 100 indicating full gender equality. Scotland’s baseline score for 2020 is 72, which indicates there is some way to go before full gender equality is reached.
However, since this is the first release of the index there is not yet any other data to compare this top level figure to. The next release of the index will show how Scotland has progressed with regards to gender equality over time - this is the main purpose of the index.
Scotland’s index is not comprehensive and is based on a relatively small but important set of statistical indicators. Although there are many similarities with the Gender Equality Index published by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the two should not be compared as they use a different set of indicators.
This first release of Scotland’s index provides an indication of how close Scotland is to full gender equality across a number of key areas of life for women and men in Scotland. Within the gender equality index these areas are described as ‘domains’ and can be compared to each other to provide an indication of where Scotland has furthest to travel towards full gender equality.
The graphic above indicates how far away Scotland is from full gender equality across the domains chosen for inclusion in the index. Under this set of measures, Health (score 99) was found to be the most equal and Power (score 44) the least. The low score for Power was driven by women’s underrepresentation on the boards of private and public sector organisations, and in senior positions across police, the judiciary, the media and sport.
The domain of Work measures the extent to which women and men have equal access to employment and good working conditions. Within the work domain (score 76), there was most inequality in ‘labour market inactivity due to caring’, with caring roles impacting far more women than men. Occupational segregation also contributed to inequality, with more women than men concentrated in the care industries.
Within the Knowledge domain (score 78), educational attainment was relatively even, however the main driver of inequality was subject segregation, particularly for Modern Apprentices, where men were much more likely than women to partake in STEM subjects.
The main driver of inequality within the Money domain (score 85) was wealth, which considers pension wealth and savings. Within the Time domain (score 78), the biggest drivers of inequality were ‘housework and cooking’ and ‘non-developmental childcare’.
Scotland’s new Gender Equality Index highlights key areas where policy makers could target and develop programmes to make the largest impact on improving gender equality. Most of these data trends move very slowly, with some data only available every two to three years. Scotland’s progress towards gender equality under these measures will be revealed in the next update of this index, which is scheduled for 2023.
The Scottish Government believes that no one should be denied rights or opportunities because of their sex or gender. Everyone in Scotland has a role in reducing and removing the social and economic barriers that result from different expectations and treatment of men and women.
To help measure and understand barriers to sex and gender equality, the Scottish Government committed in 2016 to develop a Gender Equality Index. Over the three years that followed, it drew upon an expert working group which comprised of gender stakeholders and data analysts. The group worked to agree an approach, and to identify, procure, collect and report on indicators that help understand how gender equality changes over time. This publication presents baseline data for the agreed set of indicators.
Over time there may be a need for the indicator set to evolve, but this will be kept to a minimum so that the time series remains robust. The intended audience for this index is broad and includes the public, the media and policy makers who aren’t data experts but have an interest or a role in advancing sex and gender equality.
A set of general principles was developed by the working group and it was agreed that the indicators selected to comprise the Gender Index for Scotland should:
Measure a relevant aspect of gender equality
Be in an area where full equality, rather than universal elimination, is the desirable outcome
Minimise any conceptual overlap
Demonstrate differences between men and women
Be based on robust and reliable data;
It was felt that six to eight indicators per domain would achieve the right balance, providing a sufficient level of detail but keeping the overall set manageable and digestible.
The intention from the beginning was that the index would generally be constructed from existing official data sources, however if there was a strong case for new data to be collected and funding was available then this could be an option. Straightforward methodology was used, allowing the user to easily see the relationship between the source data and the index scores. It should be noted that most of the data was gathered before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (with the exception of the data for the time domain which was collected during the lockdown and subsequent restrictions).
Scottish Government analysts worked collaboratively with gender stakeholders, taking their views and expertise on board at all stages, helping to identify long lists and short lists of indicators working with subject specific analysts. The final content of the index reflects professional decisions made by Scottish Government.
In the majority of the data sources used in the Gender Equality Index the respondent has been asked to self-identify either their gender identity or sex by selecting from a choice of binary options of man/male or woman/female, therefore the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ have been used throughout this report. Some people do not identify as man/male or woman/female, but official data collections still by and large use binary questions.
We have considered equality breakdowns throughout this index and, where applicable, have highlighted which other protected characteristics are gathered in the source publication. In some instances the source publication may include intersectional breakdowns, while in others breakdowns may be provided by other protected characteristics separately from gender. Our notes are designed to act as a signpost for users and further information, if not published on the source website, may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers, and this applies in particular to the ‘Power’ domain where there is currently a lack of intersectional data.
The indicator scores calculated from the source data (often 2018 data) are considered to be ‘2020’ gender index scores. The indicators use ‘official statistics’ unless otherwise specified in the methodology.
The domain of ‘Work’ measures the extent to which women and men have equal access to employment and good working conditions. Fair Work can drive productivity, release untapped potential and inspire innovation - all of which add value to jobs and to business and in turn create stronger, more sustainable and more inclusive growth. A Fairer Scotland for Women: Gender Pay Gap Action Plan sets out a list of actions that will support women and girls to participate equally in the labour market and address the many drivers of the gender pay gap.
The work domain of Scotland’s new index is comprised of three sub-domains: Participation, Quality and Segregation.
In 2020 the gender equality score for the work domain is 76 (where a score of 100 represents full equality). However, there was variation in the gender equality scores for the three sub-domains:
The participation sub-domain has a score of 70
The quality sub-domain has a score of 90
The segregation sub-domain has a score of 68
Work Domain gender equality scores 2020
The domain of ‘Work’ measures the extent to which women and men can benefit from equal access to employment and good working conditions. Fair Work can drive productivity, release untapped potential and inspire innovation - all of which add value to jobs and to business and in turn create stronger, more sustainable and inclusive growth.
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is.
A Fairer Scotland for Women: Gender Pay Gap Action Plan sets out a list of actions that will support women and girls to participate equally in the labour market and address the many drivers of the gender pay gap.
Scotland’s Fair Work Convention has been in place since April 2015 and acts as an independent advisory body to Scottish Ministers. The Convention’s vision is that, by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.
Participation in work was selected as a sub-domain within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index to measure women and men’s access to employment, taking into account and reflecting that women are often constrained by traditional social roles as carers and mothers even as they have increasingly entered and remained in the labour market. Work structures are designed in a way that are often inflexible and at odds with those caring roles, and can be a barrier to women’s equal participation in work.
Segregation is also a key sub-domain within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, and it describes both horizontal and vertical occupational segregation - where women and men work in different industries (for example, caring and retail for women and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for men), but also at different grades or levels of responsibility. Employers have a role to play in tackling occupational segregation and breaking down the barriers that girls and women face in the STEM sector and society as a whole. Scotland’s Gender Pay Gap Action Plan states that subject choice at school is a key determinant of career choice. Subject choice, which will be explored in more detail in the ‘Knowledge’ domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, is often skewed by gender with boys more likely to make subject choices which lead to a wider range of better paid jobs.
The One Scotland website details a series of measures Scotland is taking on Fair Work.
Scottish Government has also set out actions to encourage Women in STEM.
This index also covers vertical segregation, i.e. where women continue not to reach management and senior positions in organisations to the same extent as men.
Quality of work is also included within Scotland’s gender equality index. Creating jobs that are fulfilling, secure and well-paid is a key component of the Scottish Government’s Economic and Labour Market strategies. Beyond headline labour market indicators, the quality of work in our economy can be informed by sector trends, pay levels, opportunities for progression, levels of job satisfaction and other metrics. Quality of work can impact upon the inclusive growth outcomes of participation and people.
Delivering fair work to a diverse and inclusive workforce is a key priority within the Scottish Government’s Fair Work Action Plan. Scotland’s Fair Work Convention’s vision is that, by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.
Women and men can bring different skills and knowledge to the workplace and diverse organisations can experience increased productivity and improved economic performance. The index’s sub-domain of participation is designed to measure women’s and men’s access to employment.
It combines four indicators:
Participation in full-time equivalent (FTE) employment
Labour market ‘inactivity’ due to caring
Self-employment
Underemployment (hours)
In 2020 the gender equality score for the work participation sub-domain is 70. This was a relatively low score and far from full gender equality.
This low score is driven by the labour market ‘inactivity’ due to caring indicator which shows a very low gender equality score of 30, with caring roles impacting on far more women than men. The self-employment score is also fairly low, at 68, and the participation in rates of full-time equivalent (FTE) employment score is 84. However, underemployment (hours) is equal between women and men with a score of 100.
Participation Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
The FTE employment rate indicator provides an insight into paid work participation by women and men and takes into account the higher incidence of part-time employment among women. It is obtained by comparing each worker’s average number of hours worked with the average number of hours worked by a full-time worker.
In 2018 the full-time equivalent employment rate for women was 42%, compared to 58% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 84, revealing some inequality in this area, with women’s participation in the labour market lower than that men’s.
Full-time equivalent employment rate, by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
This data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS), which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by SIMD, age, disability and ethnicity.
The employment rate is the number of people in employment expressed as a percentage of the relevant population. This is different from the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) employment rate which counts employed persons in a way that makes them comparable although they may work a different number of hours.
Key findings from the source publication on intersectionality include analysis of the employment rate by disability and ethnicity.
Ethnicity
The minority ethnic employment gap was much higher for women than men in 2018; for women the minority ethnic employment gap was 27 percentage points and for men it was 11 percentage points.
Employment rates vary considerably for some groups of women, e.g. some groups of minority ethnic women, and disabled women have a lower employment rate. Close the Gap have produced analysis of minority ethnic women’s participation here
Disability
The gap between the employment rate for disabled and non-disabled people was lower for women (31 percentage points) than men (40 percentage points)
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the full-time equivalent employment rate. The reference population was 16-64 year olds. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) employment is a measure that counts employed people in a way that makes them comparable although they may work a different number of hours.
Respondents are asked their full-time/part-time status and usual hours worked as part of the APS questionnaire.
In order to accommodate for the variation in full-time working hours, the average number of usual hours worked by respondents who worked full-time was calculated for each years’ worth of data.
In calculating FTE, respondents who stated they were full-time were given an FTE of 1 and all other respondents’ FTE was calculated using the average number of full-time hours as described above.
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey APS
Women’s access to, and participation in, paid work remains heavily constrained by their traditional social roles as carers and mothers even as they have increasingly entered and remained in the labour market. The extent of women’s unpaid work is a key influence on their capacity to work in the formal labour market, therefore the proportion of 16-64 year old women and men who are ‘economically inactive’ due to looking after family and home is included as an indicator in Scotland’s Gender Equality Index.
In 2018, 85% of people aged 16-64 who were ‘inactive’ due to caring were women, and men made up the remaining 15%. In 2018. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 30, which indicates that Scotland is a long way from full gender equality in this area.
% of people ‘economically inactive’ due to looking after family/home, by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religious denomination and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator compares the number of women and men who are economically inactive due to looking after home/family. Numbers were used in this calculation rather than percentages, as this indicator is looking at gender differences in who takes on childcare roles. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
‘Economically inactive’ people are not in employment, but do not satisfy all the criteria for unemployment. This group is comprised of: those who want a job but who have not been seeking work in the last four weeks; those who want a job and are seeking work but not available to start; and those who do not want a job. For example, students not working or seeking work and those in retirement are classed as economically inactive. It can be useful for some purposes to consider only those who are both economically inactive and not of state pension age.
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
A person is self-employed if they run their business for themselves and take responsibility for its success or failure. Self-employed workers aren’t paid through Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and they don’t have the employment rights and responsibilities of employees. Someone can be both employed and self-employed at the same time, for example if they work for an employer during the day and run their own business in the evenings. ‘Gig economy’ workers, who are paid per short-term task (such as completing a delivery), have also traditionally been classified as self-employed for employment law purposes.
Some forms of self-employment can constitute an alternative to part-time work, whereas others can be associated with long working hours. A gender imbalance in self-employment can indicate an imbalance in access and participation in the labour market.
In 2018, 8% of women in employment aged 16+ were self-employed compared to 16% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 68.
Data is taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, religious denomination and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers who are self-employed. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Self-employment: The division between employees and self-employed is based on survey respondents’ own assessment of their employment status.
Data is taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Underemployment refers to people who are in work, but who would prefer to work more hours for the same rate of pay and provides a measure of underutilisation of labour. The Annual Population Survey (APS) gathers information on hours-based underemployment. Specifically, hours-based underemployment covers those looking for: additional hours in their existing role (at the same rate of pay); an additional job (to supplement their existing job); or a different job with more hours. The data used for this indicator within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is taken from the APS.
In 2018, 8% of women in employment aged 16+ were underemployed compared to 7% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 100 indicating that there is gender equality in this area. The high score is driven by the high proportion of women and men not being underemployed, and the relatively small percentage gap between women and men.
% of workers who would like to work additional hours given the opportunity, by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers who would like to work additional hours given the opportunity. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. For consistency, indicator data was reversed before calculating the equality score so that high percentages correspond to the more desirable outcome. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Underemployment refers to those who are in work but who would prefer to work more hours for the same rate of pay and provides a measure of underutilisation of labour.
The APS only collects information on hours based underemployment.
Creating jobs that are fulfilling, secure and well-paid is a key component of the Scottish Government’s Economic and Labour Market strategies. Beyond headline labour market indicators, the quality of work in our economy can be informed by sector trends, pay levels, whether someone works full time or part time, opportunities for progression, levels of job satisfaction and other metrics. Quality of work can impact upon the inclusive growth outcomes of participation and people.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), which has set out labour standards and developed policies and programmes promoting decent work since 1919, suggests that decent work “delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organise and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men”. The ILO has produced conventions and policy guidance on pay, working time, employment security, collective bargaining, discrimination, and health and safety at work.
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, the indicators included in the sub-domain of work quality are access to flexible working and job security.
In 2020, Scotland’s score on this sub-domain is 90.
Quality Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Flexible working can be important for work life balance and can help increase quality of work and participation in the labour market. Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, including those with caring roles. Workers with caring roles are more likely to be women and a lack of flexible working opportunities can represent a more significant barrier to women than to men.
A LFS question asks about types of agreed work arrangement. The question in the survey includes flexible working hours, annualised hours contracts, term-time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights, four-and-a-half-day weeks, zero hours contracts and on-call working.
In 2018, 27% of women in employment aged 16+ had access to flexible work compared to 18% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 81. It should be noted that although this provides an indication of who has access to flexible work it doesn’t show who needs it in order to participate in the labour market.
% of workers with a flexible working arrangement, by gender 2010 to 2018
Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Data is taken from Labour Force Survey (LFS) which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers with a flexible working arrangement. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data is taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) which asked:
“Some people have special working hours arrangements that vary daily or weekly. In your (main) job is your agreed working arrangement any of the following:
Flexible working hours
Annualised hours contract
Term-time working
Job sharing
Nine-day fortnight
Four-and-a-half-day week
Zero hours contract”
If a respondent answered yes to any of the above options then the respondent was considered to be working flexibly.
Job security can help increase women and men’s quality of life and improve their wellbeing. A lack of job security can be a barrier to home ownership, in particular.
Employment security is based on responses to questions asking about whether employees are employed on a permanent or temporary basis and, if they are employed on a temporary basis, then whether this is because they do not want permanent employment. Other measures related to secure employment, for example zero hours contracts, are not currently included on the APS. However, a question on zero hours contracts has been added to the APS from 2020 and, therefore, will be available in future versions of the publication.
In 2018, 92% of women in employment aged 18+ had secure jobs compared to 91% of men. Since these proportions were close, Scotland’s score on this indicator is close to 100, which points to almost full equality between women and men under this measure of job security.
% of workers with secure employment, by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS) which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers with secure employment. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Secure employment is based on responses to questions asking about whether employees are employed on a permanent or temporary basis, and if they are employed on a temporary basis, then whether this is because they do not want permanent employment. Other measures related to secure employment, for example zero hours contracts are not currently included on the APS. However, a question on zero hours contracts has been added to the APS from 2020 and, therefore, will be available in future versions of the publication.
The score is based on APS’s current definition of secure employment, though there may be scope to review this in the future.
Occupational segregation is the unequal concentration of men and women in different kinds of jobs (horizontal segregation) and at different levels (vertical segregation). It is caused by factors including gender stereotyping, inflexible working patterns and undervaluation of roles and occupations usually considered ‘women’s work’.
To help address this, the Scottish Government funds Equate Scotland and Close the Gap along with Flexibility Works where it plays an active role helping to promote the benefits of family-friendly, flexible working for employees and employers. Its aim is to make these ways of working the norm for employees, including men.
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, the indicators included in the sub-domain of segregation are Horizontal Segregation (Care), Horizontal Segregation (STEM) and Vertical Segregation.
In 2020, Scotland’s score on this sub-domain is 68
Segregation Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Occupational segregation describes where women and men do different types of work, with women and girls more often found in traditionally ‘women’s roles’ such as caring and retail, and men more often in the higher paid professional sectors such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Employers have a role to play in tackling occupational segregation and breaking down the barriers that girls and women face in employment and society as a whole.
The Scottish Government is working with partners to address the under-representation of women in certain courses and careers, to ensure that Scotland’s STEM sectors are diverse, equal and prosperous. More information can be found here. Scotland’s Gender Equality Index uses two indicators of horizontal occupational segregation (Care and STEM). Care will be defined using the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (SIC) for health and social care.
In 2018, 13% of women in employment aged 16+ were employed in an occupation within the health and social care industrial group compared to 3% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 35.
% of workers with an occupation in a Care Sector broad industrial group (SIC 2007), by gender 2009 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS) which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers with an occupation in a Care Sector broad industrial group (SIC 2007). The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The data is taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Those working in a Care Sector broad industrial group are defined as respondents who reported their industry as one of the following SIC2007 codes:
86.10/2 Medical nursing home activities
87 Residential care activities
88 Social work activities without accommodation
Source: Standard industrial classification of economic activities (SIC).
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, STEM is used as a further measure of horizontal occupational segregation. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and jobs in these fields tend to be professional and higher paid. There is no one accepted definition of STEM in the labour market in use in Government. The main issue is that there are some labour market sectors that are very clearly STEM based e.g. engineering, and some that are not STEM based but include STEM related occupations in them e.g. an accountant in a business or a clinician working in health and social work.
Women are under-represented in a range of STEM-related sectors. As well as impacting on individuals in terms of employment opportunities, income and career progression, employers are also affected. Social attitudes, both explicit and implicit, stereotype the roles women and men, girls and boys have in our society and can be set at an early stage. Segregation is also driven by perceptions and assumptions about what is ‘women’s work’, and what is ‘men’s work’. These traditional gender associations and stereotypes are prevalent in industries and roles such as construction, engineering, etc. (dominated by men), whilst caring and secretarial roles are dominated by women. Women in STEM careers have a high attrition rate, with the proportion of women decreasing the more senior roles become. There can also be segregation within STEM, in terms of differences in the roles of women and men.
In 2018, 32% of women in employment aged 16+ were employed in STEM occupations compared to 39% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 91.
% of workers with an occupation in a STEM broad industrial group (SIC 2007), by gender 2009 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers with an occupation in a STEM broad industrial group (SIC 2007). The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The data is taken from the APS.
Those working in STEM industries are defined as respondents who reported their industry as one of the following SIC2007 codes:
02.4 Support services to forestry
06.1 Extraction of crude petroleum
06.2 Extraction of natural gas
09.1 Support activities for petroleum and natural gas extraction
12.0 Manufacture of tobacco products
18.1 Printing and service activities related to printing
18.2 Reproduction of recorded media
19.2 Manufacture of refined petroleum products
20.1 Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilisers and nitrogen compounds, plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms
20.2 Manufacture of pesticides and other agrochemical products
20.3 Manufacture of paints, varnishes and similar coatings, printing ink and mastics
20.4 Manufacture of soap and detergents, cleaning and polishing preparations, perfumes and toilet preparations
20.5 Manufacture of other chemical products
20.6 Manufacture of man-made fibres
21.1 Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products
21.2 Manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations
24.5 Casting of metals
25.4 Manufacture of weapons and ammunition
25.6 Treatment and coating of metals; machining
26.1 Manufacture of electronic components and boards
26.2 Manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment
26.3 Manufacture of communication equipment
26.4 Manufacture of consumer electronics
26.5 Manufacture of instruments and appliances for measuring, testing and navigation; watches and clocks
26.6 Manufacture of irradiation, electromedical and electrotherapeutic equipment
26.7 Manufacture of optical instruments and photographic equipment
26.8 Manufacture of magnetic and optical media
27.1 Manufacture of electric motors, generators, transformers and electricity distribution and control apparatus
27.2 Manufacture of batteries and accumulators
27.3 Manufacture of wiring and wiring devices
27.4 Manufacture of electric lighting equipment
27.5 Manufacture of domestic appliances
27.9 Manufacture of other electrical equipment
28.4 Manufacture of metal forming machinery and machine tools
28.9 Manufacture of other special-purpose machinery
30.1 Building of ships and boats
30.2 Manufacture of railway locomotives and rolling stock
30.3 Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery
30.4 Manufacture of military fighting vehicles
32.9 Other manufacturing
33.1 Repair of fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment
33.2 Installation of industrial machinery and equipment
35.1 Electric power generation, transmission and distribution
35.2 Manufacture of gas; distribution of gaseous fuels through mains
35.3 Steam and air conditioning supply
36.0 Water collection, treatment and supply
37.0 Sewerage
38.1 Waste collection
38.2 Waste treatment and disposal
38.3 Materials recovery
39.0 Remediation activities and other waste management services
41.1 Development of building projects
41.2 Construction of residential and non-residential buildings
42.1 Construction of roads and railways
42.2 Construction of utility projects
42.9 Construction of other civil engineering projects
46.1 Wholesale on a fee or contract basis
46.7 Other specialised wholesale
52.2 Support activities for transportation
58.2 Software publishing
61.1 Wired telecommunications activities
61.2 Wireless telecommunications activities
61.3 Satellite telecommunications activities
61.9 Other telecommunications activities
62.0 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities
63.1 Data processing, hosting and related activities; web portals
63.9 Other information service activities
66.1 Activities auxiliary to financial services, except insurance and pension funding
66.2 Activities auxiliary to insurance and pension funding
70.2 Management consultancy activities
71.1 Architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy
71.2 Technical testing and analysis
72.1 Research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering
74.9 Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.
75.0 Veterinary activities
84.1 Administration of the State and the economic and social policy of the community
84.22 Defence Activities (within 84.2 Provision of services to the community as a whole)
85.4 Higher education
85.59 Other education nec (within 85.5 Other education)
86.1 Hospital activities
86.2 Medical and dental practice activities
86.9 Other human health activities
94.11 Activities of employer member organisations (within 94.1 Activities of business, employers and professional membership organisations)
95.1 Repair of computers and communication equipment
Source: Scotland’s STEM Strategy
There is evidence that women continue not to reach management and senior positions in organisations to the same extent as men. There are two issues that are said to affect women’s movement between junior and senior positions: the ‘glass ceiling’ effect and the ‘sticky floor’ effect.
The ‘glass ceiling’ hypothesis is that there are specific barriers limiting women’s participation in senior positions within organisations (therefore perpetuating vertical occupational segregation), and there is evidence that women do remain under-represented in the most senior positions.
The ‘sticky floor’ hypothesis is that women and other minority groups are ‘stuck’ in low-skilled, low-paid jobs often without access to higher paid jobs due to limited availability of training or promotion prospects. This ‘sticky floor’ effect is thought to be particularly acute within part-time employment.
To measure vertical segregation Scotland’s Gender Equality Index uses the percentage of workers in ‘Major Occupational Classification Group 1: Managers and Senior Officials’. (SOC 2010)
In 2018, 7% of women in employment aged 16+ were employed in Major Occupational Classification Group 1: Managers and Senior Officials (SOC 2010) compared to 10% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 79.
% of workers in major occupational group 1: Managers and Senior Officials, by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey (APS)
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market.
Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of workers in major occupational group 1: Managers and Senior Officials. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data is drawn from the APS.
Standard Occupational Classification for the UK
The domain of Money measures gender inequalities in access to financial resources and in women’s and men’s economic situations.
“Assessing the domain of money is important from a gender equality perspective, as ensuring women’s and men’s equal rights and access to financial resources is a prerequisite for reaching equal economic independence and for addressing the increasing feminisation of poverty specifically and growing income inequalities more generally” (European Institute for Gender Equality).
The money domain within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index has three sub-domains - income, limited independent resources and wealth. Within these, statistical indicators show gender inequality with regards to financial resources for women and men in Scotland.
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is. In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the money domain is 85, however there is some variation in the gender equality scores for the three sub-domains, with wealth being the most unequal:
The income sub-domain has a score of 88
The limited independent resources sub-domain has a score of 94
The wealth sub-domain has a score of 74
Money Domain gender equality scores 2020
The domain of money in Scotland’s Gender Equality Index measures gender inequalities in access to financial resources and in women’s and men’s economic situation. Equality for women is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for a fairer Scotland but financial gender inequality still exists, as underlined by the size of the gender pay gap and high poverty rates, especially for single women with children.
The working group recommended that income, limited independent resources and wealth were the key areas of financial inequality which impact on life chances. These were, therefore, selected as the sub-domains for the money domain of Scotland’s gender equality index.
Income is key to a person’s access to financial resources and their economic situation - it is, therefore, an important sub-domain within the Money domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index. The IMF report that gender inequality is strongly associated with income inequality.
Income is wider than earnings and includes a range of other sources, such as social security payments, tax credits, pension income and investments. However, it is generally measured at a household level in Scotland, which makes it difficult to measure for individual adults living with a partner.
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, the indicators included in the money sub-domain of income are: earnings income pooling and the Living Wage.
Using the measures available, in 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the income sub-domain is 88.
Income Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
The Scottish Government sets out in its Gender Pay Gap Action Plan a commitment to reduce the gender pay gap and to tackle the labour market inequalities faced by women, particularly disabled women, minority ethnic women, women from poorer socio-economic backgrounds and women with caring responsibilities.
The gender pay gap is caused by a range of complex, inter-related factors including occupational segregation (where men and women do different types and levels of work), lack of flexible working opportunities and discrimination in pay and grading structures. This was, therefore, an important indicator to include within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index and the indicator chosen measures the gap in median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) between men and women working in Scotland.
It was agreed by the working group that the measure that took into account the earnings of all employees (including part-time workers) made for a better and more representative indicator than the full-time gender pay gap. The overall gender pay gap reflects wider drivers that channel more women towards lower paid part-time work, and can be presented alongside the full-time gender pay gap for a fuller discussion of the pay gap.
Median hourly pay, excluding overtime (£), by gender 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
In 2018, the median hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for women was £11.81 per hour compared to £13.89 per hour for men. Although this is the indicator chosen for the Gender index it should be noted that the indicator within Scotland’s National Performance Framework measures full-time workers only. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 92.
Median full-time hourly pay, excluding overtime (£) 2004 to 2018
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)
In 2018, the median full-time hourly earnings (excluding overtime) for women was £13.86 per hour compared to £14.69 per hour for men. It should be noted that the indicator within Scotland’s National Performance Framework also measures full-time workers only.
The Scottish Government sets out in its Gender Pay Gap Action Plan a commitment to reduce the gender pay gap and to tackle the labour market inequalities faced by women, particularly disabled women, minority ethnic women, women from poorer socio economic backgrounds and women with caring responsibilities.
The data for this indicator is gathered through the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), by Office for National Statistics (ONS), and can be broken down by age. This breakdown is available on the Equality Evidence Finder.
This indicator measures the median hourly pay, excluding overtime. The reference population was adults (16+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
It should be noted that the official gender pay gap measure compares the percentage difference between men’s and women’s hourly earnings with men’s earnings, whereas the Gender Equality Index earnings equality score compares women with the mid-point between women and men. This allows for greater comparability with other gender equality scores in the Gender Equality Index.
The data for this indicator is taken from the Scottish Government analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
ASHE is the most detailed and comprehensive source of earnings across the UK produced by the ONS. The survey, carried out by ONS annually, is based on a 1% sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records. Data on hours and earnings is gathered from employers and is treated confidentially. ASHE does not cover self-employed people or employees not paid during the reference period. See the latest ONS ASHE publication for further details.
The median is a measure of the average and is calculated by identifying the exact middle point in a set of observations. When the observations are ranked from lowest to highest, the median is the value in the exact middle of the observed values. Although no single measure best measures the differences between men’s and women’s pay, the median is the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) preferred measure of average earnings as it is less affected by a relatively small number of very high earners than the mean.
Including overtime would skew results as men typically work more overtime than women.
Information on how couples in Scotland managed their household finances was gathered in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019. Statistics on income pooling can provide an insight into the distribution of, and an indication of access to, finances within households.
Couples were asked what proportion of their and their partner’s income was pooled and what proportion was kept to themselves. In 2019, 40% of women who lived with a partner kept all/most of their own income and 25% of men who lived with a partner kept all/most of their own income. It should be noted that the amounts are unknown and it is possible that a person with low or negligible income is less likely to income pool, however further research in this area is required.
Scotland’s score on this indicator is 77.
% of adults living with a partner who kept all/most of their own income, by gender 2019
Breakdowns are available in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 by age, disability and SIMD. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
This indicator measures the percentage of adults living with a partner who kept all/most of their own income. The reference population was adults (16+) living with a partner. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 asked people living in couples:
“People organise their income in different ways. Which of the following statements comes closest to what you do with your own personal income?
I keep all (or almost all) of my own income
I keep most of my own income and put the rest into a joint bank account or pool with my partner
I keep about half of my own income and put the other half into a joint bank account or pool with my partner
I keep some of my own income and put the rest into a joint bank account or pool with my partner
I keep none (or almost none) of my own income and put all (or almost all) of it into a joint bank account or pool with my partner
The Living Wage is calculated to represent the minimum pay rate required for a worker to meaningfully participate in society. It is based on detailed research into the types of goods or services members of the public think are needed to reach a socially acceptable standard of living. There is no legal requirement on employers to pay the Living Wage, unlike the statutory National Minimum Wage (NMW), and it is not possible to make payment of the real Living Wage a compulsory condition of publicly procured contracts.
The Scottish Government supports the Scottish Living Wage Campaign as one of the measures to address poverty in Scotland, and it has published guidance on how procurement processes can encourage payment of the Living Wage, as part of a wider package of workforce matters.
In 2018, 78% of women earned the living wage or more compared to 84% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 96.
% of employees earning the Living Wage or more, by gender 2012 to 2018
Living Wage analysis from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) covers those aged 18 and over on the PAYE system and whose pay was not affected by absence. Data can be broken down by age.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of employees earning the Living Wage or more. The reference population was adults (18+) in employment. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The Real Living Wage rates have been independently calculated by the Resolution Foundation according to the cost of living based on household goods and services. Current and historical Real Living Wage rates is published by the Living Wage Foundation
Data is taken from the Scottish Government analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which covers those aged 18 and over on the PAYE system and whose pay was not affected by absence.
The survey, carried out by ONS annually, is based on a 1 per cent sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs PAYE records. Data on hours and earnings is gathered from employers and is treated confidentially. ASHE does not cover those who are self-employed or employees who were not paid during the survey reference period.
Women are more likely to have caring roles, more likely to work part-time, and earn less on average. Whilst at a household level, income pooling between higher-earners and lower-earners may be sufficient to keep a household above the poverty line, this may mask disparities in access to resources and decision-making over household spending.
This sub-domain focuses on adults with limited independent resources, across material deprivation, income independence, and decision-making over spending. Scotland’s gender equality score for this sub-domain is a relatively high 94. However, data is limited on how household expenses and individual income are shared within a household, and we recognise that this isn’t the full picture. We intend to develop further gendered income data for the next release.
Limited independent resources Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Material deprivation is a way of measuring living standards and refers to the self-reported inability of individuals or households to afford particular goods and activities that are typical in society at a given point in time, irrespective of whether they would choose to have these items, even if they could afford them.
The Living Costs and Food Survey 2018/19, Office for National Statistics collected information on spending patterns and the cost of living that reflect household budgets. It is conducted throughout the year, across the whole of the UK, and is the most significant survey on household spending in the UK.
The Living Costs and Food Survey provides the data for this indicator, which focuses on the proportion of adults who are unable to afford two or more of six items/activities. In 2018/19, 8% of women experienced material deprivation, as did 8% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 100.
The items/activities are detailed in the ‘methodology’ tab in this section.
% of adults who are unable to afford two or more of the six items/activities, by gender 2018/19
The Living Costs and Food Survey 2018/19, Office for National Statistics collects and publishes data by age, disability, ethnicity and religion.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of adults who are unable to afford two or more of the six items/activities. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. For consistency, indicator data was reversed before calculating the equality score so that high percentages correspond to the more desirable outcome. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The Living Costs and Food Survey collects information on spending patterns and the cost of living that reflect household budgets. It is conducted throughout the year, across the whole of the UK, and is the most significant survey on household spending in the UK.
The six items or activities are:
Do you have a small amount of money to spend each week on yourself?
Do you replace worn out clothes with new ones?
Do you regularly participate in a hobby or leisure activity?
Do you have friends or family round for a drink or a meal at least once a month?
Do you have two pairs of properly fitting shoes, including a pair of all weather shoes?
Do you have internet access for personal use at home?
Women earn less on average than men (Earnings indicator), are less likely to be paid the Living Wage (Living Wage indicator) and are more likely to not be working due to looking after children or home (Labour market ‘inactivity’ due to caring indicator). This may lead to women having a lower independent income. Whilst there may be income pooling within a couple with a high-income and low-income earner, there will be an unequal reliance on the sharing of income to maintain their standard of living.
The income independence indicator measures the proportion of adults with an income below 60% of the UK median income, after equivalising for dependent children living with them. Due to limitations of the available data, we have assumed that costs related to dependent children are shared proportionate to individual income within a family. This indicator uses income before housing costs to avoid needing to make assumptions about how housing costs are split within a couple.
In 2016-19, 32% of women had a low independent equivalised income compared to 19% of men. This gives a gender equality score of 91.
% of adults with an individual equivalised income less than 60% of median UK income, by gender 2016-19
Source: Family Resources Survey (FRS)
The FRS collects and publishes data by age, disability, ethnicity and religion.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
Estimates have been derived using data from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and the Households Below Average Income (HBAI). Individual income data was taken from the FRS, and household data from HBAI. Where household income couldn’t be attributed to an individual this was split proportionately to individual incomes in each family within a household.
Individual income data was equivalised so that it was equivalent to a couple with no children, and then compared to 60% of UK median income. Equivalisation adjusts income to take into account variations in the size and composition of the households in which individuals live. This reflects the common sense notion that, in order to enjoy a comparable standard of living, a household of, for example, an adult with two children need a higher income than a single person living alone. For couples with children, each adult’s individual income was equivalised based on half of the dependent children.
The equivalence scales used here are the modified Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) scales:| Scale Value | |
|---|---|
| Base (household) | 0.33 |
| Adult | 0.33 |
| Child aged under 14 | 0.20 |
| Child aged 14 and over | 0.33 |
It is possible that this data can be further developed in future to better account for pooling of incomes and living costs.
Information on how couples in Scotland spend their money and make financial decisions was gathered in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019, which provided an insight into spending and spending restrictions within households in Scotland.
In this survey, respondents living in couples were asked a series of questions on spending decisions made within households. One such question, designed to gain an insight into control of household spending by gender, asked: “Thinking about you and your partner, who usually makes the decisions for the two of you about how much to spend on large household items such as a TV or a fridge?”. This was thought to be a better indicator of financial control within households than the question in the same module on grocery shopping, which could be influenced more by practical reasons around who does the shopping.
In 2019, 13% of women made these decisions compared to 15% of men. The remainder can be attributed to couples where both parties make these decisions. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 92.
% of adults living with a partner who responded that they usually make the decisions about how much to spend on large household items, by gender 2019
The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 collected data by age, disability and SIMD.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the percentage of adults living with a partner who responded that they usually make the decisions about how much to spend on large household items. The reference population was adults (16+) living with a partner. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 asked people living in couples:
“Thinking about you and your partner, who usually makes the decisions for the two of you about how much to spend on large household items such as a TV or a fridge?”
Information on how couples in Scotland spend their money and make financial decisions was gathered in the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019, which provided an insight into spending and spending restrictions within households in Scotland.
In this survey, respondents living in couples were asked a series of questions on spending restrictions within households. One such question, designed to gain an insight into household spending restrictions by gender, asked: How often do you stay in and not go out because you can’t afford it?
In 2019, 64% of women stayed home sometimes because they couldn’t afford to go out compared to 57% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 91.
% of adults who sometimes stay home instead of going out because they couldn’t afford it, by gender 2019
The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 collected data by age, disability and SIMD.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) Intra-household distribution of resources module 2019 asked people living in couples:
“How often do you stay in and not go out because you can’t afford it?””
Personal wealth is one of the key components of women’s and men’s standard of living. Wealth can be used as a source of finance to improve current or future living standards, to invest in opportunities such as education or entrepreneurial activities, and to provide financial resilience, reducing vulnerability to shocks such as unemployment or illness. Many people will try to grow their wealth throughout their working lives, in preparation for retirement, but households with low income and low starting wealth will find this more difficult. People’s personal wealth is made up of their physical, financial, property and pension wealth, with pension wealth the biggest component of them all.
The 2016-18 Wealth and Assets Survey reports that wealth inequality was more severe than income inequality and that the least wealthy households rarely own property or have any private pension savings. Their wealth is mainly made up of the value of their possessions such as clothing or furniture.
Pensioner couples, married couples, home owners and households with higher formal qualifications tend to be wealthier than other types of households. On the other hand, lone parent households (women account for the vast majority of lone parents), those in social rented housing, or where the head of the household is unemployed or economically inactive but not retired often have below-average wealth.
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, the indicators included in the money sub-domain of wealth are pensions and savings.
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the wealth sub-domain is 74.
Wealth inequality in Scotland is monitored within Scotland’s National Performance Framework
Wealth Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Pension Wealth is an estimate of the value of wealth held in private (non-state) pension schemes, expressed as an equivalent ‘pot of money’. It comprises occupational and personal pensions and includes the pensions of public sector workers. The estimate is based only on the pension rights accumulated to date and does not include rights which may be built up in future.
The 2016-18 Wealth and Assets Survey shows that over time, the proportion of adults with pension wealth (not yet in payment) has been increasing as more and more people are automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes. The gender gap has been closing.
However in 2016-18, the median pension wealth (not yet in payment as well as in payment) of women was £51,700 compared to £100,000 for men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 68.
Scotland’s Wealth and Assets Survey report shows data by age, disability and marital status.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the median pension wealth. The reference population was all adults (16+) with pension wealth. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The methodology used for Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is based on the Office for National Statistics’ methodology for the Wealth in Great Britain National Statistics publication series. Further detail on methodology can be found on ONS’s webpages.
The analysis in the Wealth and Assets Survey report is based on data from the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), which is a valuable source of information on the economic well-being of households in Great Britain. WAS is managed by the Office for National Statistics.
The survey has a large sample size and almost complete coverage of Great Britain. The sample of private households in Scotland, however, excludes households north of the Caledonian Canal and the Scottish islands. While there are some estimated numbers of households in Scotland included, it should be noted that these numbers are for illustrative purposes only, and may not necessarily be representative of households north of the Caledonian Canal and on the Scottish islands.
WAS is a sample survey and any numbers shown here are estimates only and could be slightly higher or lower if we interviewed a different sample of the population.
Pension Wealth is an estimate of the value of wealth held in private (non-state) pension schemes, expressed as an equivalent ‘pot of money’. It comprises occupational and personal pensions and includes the pensions of public sector workers. The estimate is based only on the pension rights accumulated to date and does not include rights which may be built up in future.
Pension wealth analysis exclude adults with no pension wealth.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
Net savings are calculated as the sum of all financial assets (such as bank accounts, savings accounts, stocks and shares) minus all liabilities (such as overdrafts, loans, credit card debt, and arrears on household bills). These can be formal assets, such as savings accounts or loans from banks, or informal assets, such as money held at home, or borrowing from friends and family.
Scotland’s Gender Index uses median net individualised savings and in 2016-18, the median net savings of women was £1,800 compared to £1,200 for men. Although the median for women was higher, men (based on unpublished analysis) had a larger share of aggregated total net savings - this suggests that men’s financial wealth is more skewed, i.e. more unequally distributed, than women’s.
Scotland’s gender equality score for this indicator is 79.
Median individualised net savings (£), by gender 2016-18
Source: Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS)
Scotland’s Wealth and Assets Survey report shows data by age, disability and marital status. This publication includes information on the wealthiest and least wealthy households.
Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers
This indicator measures the median individualised net savings. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The methodology used for Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) is based on the Office for National Statistics’ methodology for the Wealth in Great Britain National Statistics publication series. Further detail on methodology can be found on ONS’s webpages.
The analysis in the Wealth and Assets Survey report is based on data from the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), which is a valuable source of information on the economic well-being of households in Great Britain. WAS is managed by the Office for National Statistics.
The survey has a large sample size and almost complete coverage of Great Britain. The sample of private households in Scotland, however, excludes households north of the Caledonian Canal and the Scottish islands. While there are some estimated numbers of households in Scotland included, it should be noted that these numbers are for illustrative purposes only, and may not necessarily be representative of households north of the Caledonian Canal and on the Scottish islands.
WAS is a sample survey and any numbers shown here are estimates only and could be slightly higher or lower if we interviewed a different sample of the population.
Financial wealth (net financial wealth) is calculated as the sum of all financial assets (such as bank accounts, savings accounts, stocks and shares) minus all liabilities (such as overdrafts, loans, credit card debt, and arrears on household bills). These can be formal assets, such as savings accounts or loans from banks, or informal assets, such as money held at home, or borrowing from friends and family.
Some financial wealth components (such as endowments attached to repayment of main property mortgage/loan) are held jointly by multiple householders. Following ONS methodology, these were split equally between the household reference person and their spouse/partner.
The median is a measure of the average and is calculated by identifying the exact middle point in a set of observations. When the observations are ranked from lowest to highest, the median is the value in the exact middle of the observed values. It is the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) preferred measure of average earnings as it is less affected by a relatively small number of very high earners than the mean.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
The ‘Time’ domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality index measures gender inequalities in the allocation of time spent on caring, household and leisure activities. Focusing on time use is important because it demonstrates substantive issues of gender equality and of men’s and women’s comparative life chances, including their capacity to work in the formal labour market, participate in their communities and be healthy.
The time domain has two sub-domains - ‘care’ and ‘time’. The ‘care’ sub-domain is made up of the following three indicators: care of adults; developmental childcare and non-developmental childcare. The ‘time’ sub-domain is made up of a further four indicators: household management; housework and cooking; social/leisure activities and volunteering.
It should be noted that much of the data for this domain comes from the 2020 Office for National Statistics (ONS) Online Time Use Survey (OTUS) and was collected in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent restrictions. These extraordinary circumstances are likely to have had implications for how time was used in Scotland in 2020. As a result, this context should be borne in mind when drawing conclusions about societal trends using the 2020 data. Any changes might be due to the restrictions which were placed on daily life in 2020, and wider trends cannot be assessed until there is post-pandemic time use data available.
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the time domain is 78, however there is some variation in the gender equality scores for the two sub-domains, with ‘time’ being slightly less equal than ‘care’.
The ‘care’ sub-domain has a score of 74
The ‘time’ sub-domain has a score of 82
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is.
Time Domain gender equality scores 2020
The ‘time’ domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index measures gender inequalities in allocation of time spent on caring, household and leisure activities. Focusing on time use is important because it demonstrates substantive issues of gender equality and of men’s and women’s comparative life chances, including their capacity to work in the formal labour market, participate in their communities and be healthy.
Given the gender disparities in time use and the unequal distribution of unpaid work between women and men, data on time spent in paid and unpaid activities are an essential component of gender analysis. Gender equality in paid work is assessed in the ‘Work’ domain of this index.
Time use can be accurately collected by using diary-derived time use information, and this is the method used by the OTUS, the main source of data for this chapter. However, it should be noted that that the fieldwork for this survey took place during the UK’s national lockdown and subsequent periods of restrictions as a result of COVID-19. These restrictions are likely to have had an impact on how time was used in Scotland.
Indeed, time use data at the UK level from ONS has indicated that the gap in unpaid work (activities such as childcare, adult care, housework and volunteering) between men and women reduced slightly during lockdown (compared to 2014/15 time use data). However, ONS UK time use data collected from September to October indicated that, post-lockdown, there was a return to the pre-lockdown gender gap in unpaid work. The impact COVID-19 has had on the gendered distribution of unpaid work within households in Scotland is something that will be explored in more detail in the near future (2021), and in the longer term (once there is a post-pandemic time use data set available).
‘Care’ was selected as a sub-domain within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index to describe the time men and women spend on unpaid care, taking into account traditional societal perceptions that women are more naturally caring than men, and that care work is a woman’s responsibility.
‘Time’ was also selected as a sub-domain within Scotland’s Gender equality index and focuses on the time women and men spend undertaking other unpaid work - household management, housework and cooking, and volunteering- as well as their differences in social/leisure time. Measuring how women and men spend their time in their private lives provides a better understanding of women’s economic and social contributions, and highlights gender inequalities.
It was considered important to separate unpaid caring from other forms of unpaid work by allocating a separate sub-domain, set of indicators and gender equality scores to ‘care’. This was because unpaid caring roles have traditionally fallen to women rather than men, and have particular implications for women in terms of equal access to all spheres of life.
Caring has long been a gendered issue. Rigid gender norms have contributed to the notion that men are ‘breadwinners’ and women are ‘homemakers’, meaning that women are often more likely to take on unpaid care work. Caring roles have significant ramifications for women’s access to employment, career development and progress, access to training and higher education, as well as on physical and mental health.
Caring can be a positive and rewarding experience and can have a positive impact on wellbeing, but it can also be associated with poor psychological wellbeing and physical health (see Carers UK).
Survey data published for Carers Week 2020 by Carers UK suggests that there may now be up to 1.1 million unpaid carers in Scotland, of which 61% are women. The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the number of people taking on caring roles in Scotland, with 16% of Scottish respondents to Carers UK’s survey stating that they were already providing care before the pandemic, and a further 9% stating they have started caring since the coronavirus outbreak.
In Scotland’s Gender Equality Index, the indicators included in the time sub-domain of care are care of adults, developmental childcare and non-developmental childcare.
Using the measures available, in 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the care sub-domain is 74.
Care Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Data for this indicator is taken from the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS). Respondents aged 16+ were asked if they provide any regular help or care for any sick, disabled or frail person.
In 2017/18, 18% of women provided regular care to any sick, disabled or frail person, compared to 12% of men. In 2017/18, Scotland’s score on this indicator is 80.
% of adults who provide any regular help or care for any sick, disabled or frail person, by gender 2017/18
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) found that in 2017/18 women aged 45-54 were most likely to help or care for any sick, disabled or frail person (27%). This was followed by women aged 55-64 (24%).
Women in the bottom two SIMD quintiles were more likely to be caring for any sick, disabled or frail person than woman in the top three SIMD quintiles. 20% of women in the bottom quintile and 21% in the 2nd quintile had these caring roles, compared to 16%, 15% and 16% of women in the 3rd to 5th quintiles respectively.
Women with a limiting longstanding illness (disabled women) were more likely to provide care for any sick, disabled or frail person - with 21% of these women providing care compared to 16% of women without a longstanding illness (limiting or non limiting).
This indicator measures the percentage of adults who provide any regular help or care for any sick, disabled or frail person. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data for this indicator is drawn from combined Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) data from 2017 and 2018. Combining data across years in this way allows for a more detailed analysis of subgroups in the sample and allows for analysis of questions with small sample sizes in one survey year. The sample size for this indicator was 8,506 people.
Participants in the SHeS were asked whether they look after, or give any regular help or support to, family members, friends, neighbours or others because of a long-term physical condition, mental ill-health or disability; or problems related to old age. Caring which is done as part of any paid employment is not asked about.
Samples in both 2017 and 2018 were drawn from the Postcode Address File (PAF). These addresses comprised four sample types: main (core) sample with biological measures (version A), main (core) sample without biological measures (Version B), child boost screening sample, and Health Board boost sample. The data for this indicator is drawn from the main sample - both versions A and B.
Gender norms depicting women as homemakers and men as providers have meant that women have traditionally taken on more childcare roles. In addition, women are far more likely than men to be lone parents.
Developmental childcare includes activities that influence physical, language, thought and emotional changes in children. When considering time spent on developmental childcare in 2020 it is important to note that wave one of fieldwork for the 2020 OTUS took place during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools and nurseries were closed for most children (except those whose parents were essential workers) and many parents and carers were required to home school their children - a form of developmental childcare.
In 2020, women with children spent an average of 76 minutes per day on developmental childcare, compared to men with children who spent 53 minutes per day on these activities. In 2020, Scotland’s score on this indicator is 82.
Average minutes per day spent on developmental childcare, adults with children in their household, by gender 2020
Source: Time Use in Scotland 2020
Information on how gender intersected with other population characteristics in the 2020 OTUS will be available in 2021.
Existing data on intersectionality can be found in the 2014/15 Time Use Survey.
This indicator measures the average minutes per day spent on developmental childcare, adults with children in their household. The reference population was all adults (18+) with children in their household. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The indicator of developmental childcare is made up of both occasions where such childcare was a primary activity, that is when it was the only activity taking place, and time when developmental childcare was a secondary activity, for example looking after the child while they, or you, are doing another activity.
The 2020 OTUS took place during two waves, the first running from 28 March to 26 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the second from 5 September to 11 October, during the restrictions that followed the lockdown. Given this context, future comparisons with the 2020 OTUS must be carried out in the knowledge that any changes in time use patterns might be due to these extraordinary circumstances, rather than change in societal trends.
This Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure it reflects the profile of the Scottish population.
The 2020 OTUS gathered information using pre-coded time use diaries - participants recorded their activities at 10 minute intervals in time use diaries provided by the researchers. They were asked to provide completed diaries on two randomly allocated days which included, by design, one weekday and one weekend day. Diary entries were then recorded by the participants online where possible, or were contacted over the phone by interviewers who recorded diary information on participants’ behalf.
Time is reported in average minutes per day. For the indicator of developmental childcare this average is calculated using only those members of the sample who have children in their household.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
Non-developmental childcare includes activities such as feeding, washing, dressing or preparing meals for children.
In 2020 women with children spent an average of 122 minutes per day on non-developmental childcare, compared to men with children who spent 50 minutes per day on these activities. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 59.
Average minutes per day spent on non-developmental childcare, adults with children in their household, by gender 2020
Source: Time Use in Scotland 2020
Information on how gender intersected with other population characteristics in the 2020 OTUS will be available in 2021.
Existing data on intersectionality can be found in the 2014/15 Time Use Survey.
This indicator measures the average minutes per day spent on non-developmental childcare, adults with children in their household. The reference population was all adults (18+) with children in their household. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The indicator of developmental childcare is made up of both occasions where such childcare was a primary activity, that is when it is the only activity taking place, and time when developmental childcare was a secondary activity, for example looking after the child while they, or you, are doing another activity.
The 2020 OTUS took place during two waves, the first running from 28 March to 26 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the second from 5 September to 11 October, during the restrictions that followed the lockdown. Given this context, future comparisons with the 2020 OTUS must be carried out in the knowledge that any changes in time use patterns might be due to these extraordinary circumstances, rather than change in societal trends.
This Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure it reflects the profile of the Scottish population.
The 2020 OTUS gathered information using pre-coded time use diaries - participants recorded their activities at 10 minute intervals in time use diaries provided by the researchers. They were asked to provide completed diaries on two randomly allocated days which included, by design, one weekday and one weekend day. Diary entries were then recorded by the participants online where possible, or were contacted over the phone by interviewers who recorded diary information on participants’ behalf.
Time is reported in average minutes per day. For the indicator of non-developmental childcare this average is calculated using only those members of the sample who have children in their household.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
The time sub-domain measures the different ways men and women use their personal time. By measuring how women and men spend their time away from formal work, women’s economic and social contributions can be better understood and gender inequalities highlighted.
How a person spends their leisure time is also vital to their health and wellbeing. Appropriate leisure, social and physical activities all contribute to wellbeing, while an overburden of both paid and unpaid work can cause stress.
In this sub-domain, three forms of unpaid work are considered: household management; housework and cooking, and volunteering, as well as social/leisure activities.
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the time sub-domain is 82.
Time Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Household management is a form of unpaid work which encompasses activities related to household administration - such as banking, errands, appointments and food and drink shopping.
In 2020, there was no significant difference in time spent on household management between women and men. Women spent an average of 18 minutes per day on these activities, compared to 14 minutes for men. In 2020, Scotland’s score on this indicator was 88.
Average minutes per day spent on household management as a main activity, by gender 2020
Source: Time Use in Scotland 2020
Information on how gender intersected with other population characteristics in the 2020 OTUS will be available in 2021.
Existing data on intersectionality can be found in the 2014/15 Time Use Survey.
This indicator measures the average minutes per day spent on household management as a main activity. The reference population was all adults (18+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The 2020 OTUS took place during two waves, the first running from 28 March to 26 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the second from 5 September to 11 October, during the restrictions that followed the lockdown. Given this context, future comparisons with the 2020 OTUS must be carried out in the knowledge that any changes in time use patterns might be due to these extraordinary circumstances, rather than change in societal trends.
This Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure it reflects the profile of the Scottish population.
The 2020 OTUS gathered information using pre-coded time use diaries - participants in the time use survey recorded their activities at 10 minute intervals in time use diaries provided by the researchers. They were asked to provide completed diaries on two randomly allocated days which included, by design, one weekday and one weekend day. Diary entries were then recorded by the participants online where possible, or were contacted over the phone by interviewers who recorded diary information on participants’ behalf.
Time is reported in average minutes per day. Average time use depends on two factors: the number of people participating in an activity on a given day and the amount of time spent participating in that activity. These factors are combined to give a figure for average time use for the population group. The total sample population is used to calculate the average time spent on household management.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
The housework and cooking indicator includes activities that can be considered as domestic work, for example: making food and drinks, cooking or washing up; cleaning, hoovering, tidying house; washing up and ironing, washing or mending clothes.
In 2020, women spent substantially more time on housework and cooking than men - an average of 125 minutes per day, compared to 72 minutes for men. In 2020, Scotland’s score on this indicator was 74, indicating considerable gender inequality.
Average minutes per day spent on housework or cooking as a main activity, by gender 2020
Source: Time Use in Scotland 2020
Information on how gender intersected with other population characteristics in the 2020 OTUS will be available in 2021.
Existing data on intersectionality can be found in the 2014/15 Time Use Survey.
This indicator measures the average minutes per day spent on housework or cooking as a main activity. The reference population was all adults (18+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The 2020 OTUS took place during two waves, the first running from 28 March to 26 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the second from 5 September to 11 October, during the restrictions that followed the lockdown. Given this context, future comparisons with the 2020 OTUS must be carried out in the knowledge that any changes in time use patterns might be due to these extraordinary circumstances, rather than change in societal trends.
This Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure it reflects the profile of the Scottish population.
The 2020 OTUS gathered information using pre-coded time use diaries - participants recorded their activities at 10 minute intervals in time use diaries provided by the researchers. They were asked to provide completed diaries on two randomly allocated days which included, by design, one weekday and one weekend day. Diary entries were then recorded by the participants online where possible, or were contacted over the phone by interviewers who recorded diary information on participants’ behalf.
Time is reported in average minutes per day. Average time use depends on two factors: the number of people participating in an activity on a given day and the amount of time spent participating in that activity. These factors are combined to give a figure for average time use for the population group. The total sample population is used to calculate the average time spent on housework and cooking.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.
Data for this indicator is drawn from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2019. Respondents were asked if they had provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months. It should be noted that this data was collected in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, volunteering was slightly more common amongst women than amongst men. 28% of women had provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months, compared to 24% of men. Scotland’s score on this indicator is 92.
% of adults who provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months, by gender 2019
Source: Scottish Household Survey (SHS)
Women aged 35-44 were the group most likely to volunteer (36%), while women aged over 75 are the least likely to volunteer.
People from higher-income households and less deprived areas are more likely to volunteer than those from lower-income households and more deprived areas. 35% of those living in households earning over £40,000 per year had volunteered in the previous 12 months, compared with 18% of people from households earning £6,001-£10,000. Similarly, 33% of adults living in the 20% least deprived areas had volunteered, compared with 16% of those living in the 20% most deprived areas.
Volunteering is more common among those living in rural areas. 33% of those living in remote rural areas had volunteered, compared with 24% of those living in large urban areas. Volunteers living in remote rural or accessible rural areas were more likely to volunteer for local community or neighbourhood organisations/groups (40% and 32% respectively) than the average for all of Scotland (22%).
This indicator measures the percentage of adults who provided unpaid help to organisations or groups in the last 12 months. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
SHS is a Scotland-wide face-to-face survey of a random sample of people in private residences. The SHS is voluntary and interviewer-administered in people’s homes. Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) is used to collect the survey data.
10,580 households participated in the household section of the interview, and 9,780 adults participated in the random adult section of the interview.
The domain of knowledge within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is designed to measure gender equality in education and training. The two sub-domains, exploring the differences between men and women, are educational attainment and subject segregation.
In the 2020 Gender Equality Index, Scotland’s score for the knowledge domain was 78. There was, however, a difference between the two sub-domains, with attainment being much more gender equal (92) than subject segregation (65).
In fact, women and girls generally outperformed men and boys when it came to educational attainment but this advantage did not translate into higher pay for women graduates. And subject segregation, using Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as an indicator, was still prevalent in Scotland’s educational institutions.
Knowledge Domain gender equality scores 2020
The EIGE domain of knowledge measures gender inequalities in educational attainment and subject segregation. It was agreed by the expert working group that these would also be broadly appropriate sub-domains for the knowledge domain within a Scotland index.
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is.
The first sub-domain of educational attainment is measured by two indicators: a measure of secondary school education attainment, and a measure of university graduates. In addition, it was also felt that it would be valuable to measure whether graduate pay for women and men is in line with their attainment and, therefore, this was also selected as a third indicator.
The second sub-domain looks at gender segregation in secondary and university education by examining the percentage of women and men among students in STEM subjects. Reducing the gender gap in STEM education could help reduce skills gaps, increase women’s employment, and reduce occupational segregation. Ultimately this could foster economic growth via both higher productivity and increased labour market activity. However, it is clear that qualifications alone will not achieve this. Rather, these qualifications have to translate into STEM jobs for women for there to be equality in the labour market.
Scotland has a long tradition of expertise, innovation and achievement in STEM, and it’s an integral part of future economic and social development. The Scottish Government published the STEM Education and Training Strategy for Scotland in 2017. This sets out a vision of Scotland as a STEM nation: with a highly-educated and skilled population equipped with the STEM skills, knowledge and capability required to adapt and thrive in the fast-paced, changing world and economy around us. Increasing the participation of women in STEM subjects will have a strong positive impact on gross domestic product (GDP) and could help close the gender pay gap. It was also thought valuable to consider segregation within Modern Apprenticeships and this was also included as an indicator.
Other areas considered by the expert working group were on gendered bullying in schools and in other educational institutions but suitable data is not yet available in these areas.
Levels of educational attainment and skills development can have a strong impact on a person’s life chances. Without basic skills and with a low level of qualification, adults are at a higher risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. The attainment sub-domain within the knowledge domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index consists of three indicators:
secondary education
higher education
the ratio of pay to attainment
All three indicators produced scores of 90 or more, which indicates that attainment levels in Scotland between women (and girls) and men (and boys) were fairly equal.
Secondary attainment was measured as the percentage of girls and boys who attained one or more passes at SCQF level 6 (approximately Scottish Higher) – or better grades. The higher education indicator measured the percentage of women and men aged 25-64 with a higher education qualification. In 2020, both the secondary education and higher education indicators produced scores of 90 or above (90 and 92 respectively) and in both of these indicators women and girls outperformed men and boys. With regard to equality, the goal should not be for women and girls to have lower levels of educational attainment to match men and boys, but rather that men and boys should catch up with women and girls in terms of secondary attainment.
The indicator measuring ratio of pay to attainment was developed to show how well women and men’s educational attainment translates into labour market outcomes. The pay of women graduates was lower than the pay of men.
Attainment Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Attainment at secondary school can be key to a person’s life chances. Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework SCQF qualifications can help facilitate access to further and higher education, Modern Apprenticeships and the labour market.
In 2018/19 two thirds (67%) of girl school leavers attained at least one pass at SCQF level 6 or better compared to just over half (55%) of boys. This produced a secondary education attainment score of 90, indicating that gender equality of secondary attainment is fairly high.
% of school leavers attaining one pass or more at SCQF level 6 or better, by gender 2018/19
Source: Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations presents data by SIMD, pupil ethnicity, and ASN (Additional Support Needs)
This indicator measures the percentage of school leavers attaining one pass or more at SCQF level 6 or better. The reference population was all secondary school leavers. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for girls with the mid-point of boys and girls. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data is taken from Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations.
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is used as the basis for reporting attainment. The SCQF is Scotland’s national qualifications framework. The SCQF has 12 levels which, in ascending order, indicate the difficulty of a particular qualification. With reference to a set of ‘level descriptors’ the SCQF allows broad comparisons to be made between qualifications. It also allows learners, employers and the public in general, to understand the range of skills and learning that should be achieved at each level.
Scotland’s Gender Index uses SCQF level 6 as the indicator for secondary attainment. Level 6 covers Highers (grades A-C), Skills for Work Higher and Advanced Higher (grade D). Highers are generally taken in S5/S6 and Advanced Highers are generally taken in S6. Highers, sometimes along with Advanced Highers, are the Scottish qualifications required for entry into Higher Education. For Highers, grade A-C is considered a pass. A school leaver is defined as a young person of school leaving age who left school during or at the end of the school year. School leavers from 2018/19 are the fourth cohort to have experienced the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) throughout the senior phase of their school education.
Higher education qualifications are important for their recognition by employers and academics. At university, students get the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge, critical thinking and connections to enhance their careers. A degree can lead to increased access to jobs and higher earning potential.
Scotland’s Gender Equality Index looks at the percentage of women and men aged 25-64 with a higher education qualification. In 2018 just over half (51%) of women workers were graduates, compared to just over two fifths (43%) of men. This produced a higher education score of 92, indicating that gender equality in higher education qualifications is relatively high.
% of adults (aged 25-64) with a higher education qualification, by gender 2018
Source: Annual Population Survey
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market. Breakdowns are available in this data collection by age, ethnicity, disability and SIMD.
This indicator measures the percentage of adults (aged 25-64) with a higher education qualification. The reference population was all adults aged 25-64. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data is taken from the Annual Population Survey which highlights the key statistics for Scotland’s labour market. Reliable and up-to-date headline information is presented for key indicators including; employment, equality characteristics of those in employment, underemployment, inactivity and youth participation in the labour market.
Women consistently outperform men in terms of attainment throughout school and higher education, however this does not translate into higher average earning in the labour market. This indicator, the ratio of graduate pay to attainment, was chosen to reflect this in Scotland’s Gender Equality Index.
This indicator uses the newly developed Graduate Outcomes (LEO) data, which shows the progress of higher education leavers into the labour market. The LEO links education records to tax and benefits data to show if graduates were employed and how much they were paid.
This data source shows the earnings of women to be lower than the earnings of men five years after graduation. Among graduates in 2017/18 women earned on average £26,600 whereas men earned £29,600. This produced a ratio of pay to attainment score of 95.
Some of these differences will be due to the differences in part-time working by gender (among other factors such as occupational segregation), however the LEO is currently unable to distinguish between those working full and part-time and this should be borne in mind when looking at the data.
Median total earnings of first degree graduates five years after graduation, by gender 2017/18
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Graduate Outcomes (LEO): Subject by Provider, 2017 to 2018 breaks data down by disability and SIMD. The former by gender is available in the published tables, and the latter by gender may be available on request.
The UK level report Graduate outcomes (LEO): outcomes also presents data by ethnicity.
This indicator measures the median total earnings of first degree graduates five years after graduation. The reference population was all first degree graduates. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data was taken from tables produced using Scottish LEO data published by the Department for Education in their statistical release: Graduate Outcomes (LEO): Subject by Provider, 2017 to 2018
Skills in STEM are the key drivers for growth and innovation in twenty-first century Scotland. To maximise the benefit Scotland can derive from these opportunities, the country aspires to grow and develop its STEM expertise. Scotland’s STEM Strategy sets out aspirations to make sure that its approach to STEM is inclusive and there is equality of access and opportunity to study STEM and pursue STEM jobs and careers.
Subject segregation in both education and employment exacerbates gender inequality and, therefore, is included as a key sub-domain within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index. The proportion of women and men with qualifications and careers in STEM will measure this key aspect of gender equality.
In 2020, the sub-domain of subject segregation score is 65. However there was a large difference between the indicators, with secondary and university education scoring around 90, while gender segregation within Modern Apprenticeships scored a highly unequal 18.
Subject segregation Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
Scotland’s Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme provides individuals with the opportunity to secure industry-recognised qualifications while earning a wage. It offers people aged 16 and over the opportunity of paid employment, combined with training at different levels. A Modern Apprentice could be a new team member or an existing employee seeking to increase their capability. Participants build valuable work experience and gain an accredited qualification that is recognised by industry. Graduate Apprenticeships | Skills Development Scotland provide work-based learning opportunities up to Master’s degree level for new and existing employees. They have been created in partnership with industry and the further and higher education sector. The apprenticeships combine academic knowledge with skills development to enable participants to become more effective and productive in the workplace. Foundation Apprenticeships allow young people to develop skills to support a future journey into a Modern or Graduate Apprenticeship and these apprenticeships provide a route into the world of work.
Participation rates in STEM subjects provide an indicator of gender segregation within Modern Apprenticeships. The score for the Modern Apprenticeships subject segregation indicator was 18, which represents relatively unequal participation in these subjects for women and men. Only 761 women Modern Apprentices completed a STEM Modern Apprenticeship in 2018/19, compared to 8,144 men. This indicator focuses on Modern Apprenticeships only and it should be noted that subjects within the other types of apprenticeships may have a different gender balance.
Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Scotland’s national skill body, is working with its partners to promote gender equality across National Training Programmes. The SDS Board is responsible for facilitating employer leadership of apprenticeships through the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB). A Gender Commission was also set up in response to findings by the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory Board (SAAB) Group Board, which looked at current trends within apprenticeships and identified a need to provide visible, industry leadership by setting up a commission to address gender imbalance. The work compliments existing activity on gender segregation in the workplace, although it will be the first of its kind to do so specifically through the lens of apprenticeships and work-based learning in Scotland.
Number of Modern Apprentices completing a STEM apprenticeship, by gender 2018/19
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
SDS provides modern apprenticeship data by age, ethnicity and disability.
This indicator measures the number of Modern Apprentices completing a STEM apprenticeship. The reference population was all modern apprentice completers. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Modern Apprenticeships provide a way for businesses to train employees to industry-recognised and agreed standards. The data is compiled by Skills Development Scotland. The Modern Apprenticeship Official Statistics include a main report as well as supplementary tables giving breakdowns by age, framework, local authority, redundancies and various combinations of these.
Participation rates in STEM subjects within Scotland’s schools provide an indicator of gender subject segregation in early life stages. A gender imbalance in school STEM qualifications can continue through university education or modern apprenticeships and into the labour market. Lower rates of women qualifying with STEM subjects can have a negative impact on GDP and widen the gender pay gap.
However, in 2018/19, 39% of girl school leavers had a STEM qualification at SCQF level 6 (Scottish Higher) or better compared to 33% of boys. This translated to a secondary education segregation sub-domain score of 92.
Scotland’s STEM Strategy aspires to ensure children, young people and adults are encouraged to develop an interest in, and enthusiasm for, STEM that is reinforced throughout their lives. It sets out practical steps to address these goals.
% school leavers with a STEM qualification at SCQF level 6 or better, by gender 2018/19
Source: Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Scotland’s STEM Strategy sets out the need to tackle the gender imbalances and other inequities that exist across STEM education and training, including in relation to race, disability, deprivation and geography. These inequalities are unfair and undermine inclusive economic growth in Scotland.
Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations presents data by SIMD, pupil ethnicity, and ASN (Additional Support Needs)
This indicator measures the percentage school leavers with a STEM qualification at SCQF level 6 or better. The reference population was all secondary school leavers. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations provides information on the educational attainment and initial destinations of 2018/19 school leavers from publicly funded schools in Scotland.
A gender imbalance in graduates with STEM qualifications is likely to lead to job segregation within the labour market. Lower rates of women graduates in STEM subjects can have a negative impact on GDP and widen the gender pay gap.
In 2018/19, 45% of women graduates attained a degree classification in a STEM subject compared to 59% of men. This translated to a score of 87 for the university education subject segregation indicator, which represents a gender imbalance in STEM graduates.
% of graduates with a STEM undergraduate degree, by subject area and gender 2018/19
Source: HESA Student data
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
Higher Education Student Data Scotland collects the personal characteristics of students including their age, disability and ethnicity.
This indicator measures the percentage of graduates with a STEM undergraduate degree. The reference population was all undergraduate qualifiers from a Scottish university. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The source for this data is Higher Education Student Data Scotland
Scotland’s Gender Equality Index domain of Power is designed to measure gender equality in decision-making positions across political, economic and social spheres.
“The domain of power focuses on the representation of women and men in decision making positions, as there is a general consensus that greater gender balance in positions of power will have a positive effect on gender equality.” (European Institute for Gender Equality)
Scotland’s ‘Power’ domain represents influence and decision making in large institutions rather than at an individual or household level, which is covered by other domains within the Index.
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the power domain was 44. There was a large variation in the gender equality scores for the three sub-domains. The political sub-domain had the highest score at 72, with gender equality relatively high for ministerial influence. The economic and social sub-domain scores were much lower, with both scoring 34.
Power Domain gender equality scores 2020
The EIGE domain of power is designed to measure gender equality in decision-making positions across the political, economic and social spheres.
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is.
The EIGE index was the starting point for the discussion around the development of Scotland’s power domain, and it was agreed by the expert working group that the three sub-domains of political, economic and social power broadly provided a sound structure for Scotland’s domain. It was thought that the results should be primarily driven by who makes the decisions, rather than perceptions of who has power. Power was the lowest scoring domain in the EIGE index in 2020, despite improvements since 2005.
It was also agreed by the working group that Scotland’s ‘power’ domain should be about influence and decision making in large institutions rather than at an individual or household level (household level decision making is already covered in other domains).
The set of indicators were discussed, agreed and finalised by the working group and are presented in the main body of this report. It should be noted, however, that unlike the other domains, there is a lack of ‘official’ data sources which are able to inform the chosen power indicators.
The main source for many of the indicators is Engender’s Sex and Power in Scotland 2020 research paper - the information presented in this paper was researched in September and October 2019. The paper identifies and sets out the limitations of the data that it includes:
“The list of organisations and positions identified in this report is not comprehensive, but is indicative of the current gendered balance of power and decision-making in Scotland. As ever, Scottish-level data is sometimes missing or difficult to find, and not all occupational categories included can be compared like-for-like in terms of organisational scale. The influence and reach of cultural production organisations, for instance, is sizeable and cannot be easily measured. Sample sizes are often small, but still indicate patterns within respective fields. We reference sources and the methodology used to define occupational categories in relevant sections throughout the report.”
The economic sub-domain provides a measure for gender equality in decision-making positions across important economic spheres and looks at the gender balance of the heads of public bodies and large private-sector companies.
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the economic sub-domain was 34. However, there was a large disparity in the scores between the two indicators.
Economic Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
The number of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in Scotland’s 50 largest companies was chosen as an indicator to provide a measure of gender equality within business and the private sector. There is a clear-cut business case for women’s leadership and it is widely recognised that greater diversity across management and company boards improves organisational performance and access to resources.
However, progress towards women’s leadership within the private sector in Scotland has been extremely slow. In 2019, the vast majority of CEOs of Scotland’s 50 largest companies were men with only 4% having female Chief Executives (2 women compared with 48 men). Scotland’s gender equality score on this indicator is 9, demonstrating considerable inequality.
In addition, Small Business Survey Scotland: 2018 shows that only around one in seven small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) employers were controlled by a woman, or led by a management team with a majority of women.
There are a number of possible reasons for these low gender equality scores including: male-dominated working cultures, onerous working models for senior staff, a lack of flexible working opportunities and quality part-time work, and pregnancy and maternity discrimination, which can all be barriers to women’s career progression.
This indicator measures the CEOs of Scotland’s 50 largest private sector companies. The reference population was all CEOs. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The main source for many of the indicators is Engender’s Sex and Power in Scotland 2020 research paper - the information presented in this paper was researched in September and October 2019. The paper identifies and sets out the limitations of the data that it includes:
“The list of organisations and positions identified in this report is not comprehensive, but is indicative of the current gendered balance of power and decision-making in Scotland. As ever, Scottish-level data is sometimes missing or difficult to find, and not all occupational categories included can be compared like for like in terms of organisational scale. The influence and reach of cultural production organisations, for instance, is sizeable and cannot be easily measured. Sample sizes are often small, but still indicate patterns within respective fields. We reference sources and the methodology used to define occupational categories in relevant sections throughout the report.”
It should be noted that these are not ‘Official Statistics’.
Scotland’s public bodies carry out a range of operational, advisory, regulatory and specialist functions, with varying degrees of independence and funding from central government. These governance bodies set policy, deliver services, administer justice, and safeguard rights across a huge range of areas that impact the lives of men and women. The areas covered include social care, education, training, law enforcement, recourse to justice, housing, the environment, the arts, taxation, pensions and enterprise. It was, therefore, important to have a measure of gender equality in this key sector included in Scotland’s Gender Equality Index.
In 2019, the vast majority of the heads of Scotland’s public boards were men with only 30% headed by women (68 women compared with 160 men). Scotland’s score on this indicator is 60.
It should be noted that in 2019, the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Bill which sets the quota for women on public boards at 50% in order to redress the overrepresentation of men in strategic positions on public bodies.
This indicator measures the heads of public bodies. The reference population was all heads of public bodies. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The main source for many of the indicators is Engender’s Sex and Power in Scotland 2020 research paper - the information presented in this paper was researched in September and October 2019. The paper identifies and sets out the limitations of the data that it includes:
“The list of organisations and positions identified in this report is not comprehensive, but is indicative of the current gendered balance of power and decision-making in Scotland. As ever, Scottish-level data is sometimes missing or difficult to find, and not all occupational categories included can be compared like for like in terms of organisational scale. The influence and reach of cultural production organisations, for instance, is sizeable and cannot be easily measured. Sample sizes are often small, but still indicate patterns within respective fields. We reference sources and the methodology used to define occupational categories in relevant sections throughout the report.”
It should be noted that these are not ‘Official Statistics’.
The sub-domain of Political Power examines the representation of women and men across national and local political institutions in Scotland, including the Scottish Parliament and local councils. The indicators included here are council leaders, Ministers, and Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).
In 2020, Scotland’s gender equality score for the political sub-domain was 72. Using these measures there was more gender equality in politics in Scotland at national than local level.
Political Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
It was important to include an indicator on local politics, as local political leaders make key decisions about vital services which impact on the lives of everyone in the community, including across education, public transport, leisure facilities, and social care.
In 2019, the majority of council leaders were men, with only 23% of Scotland’s councils headed by women (8 women compared with 27 men). Scotland’s gender equality score on this indicator is 46.
In addition to the council leaders, a larger number of local councillors play an important role in supporting people in their ward through case work, advocating for their residents in disputes, offering advice, and representing their views in various spheres. It is important that these roles are also gender balanced, not only so that decisions take into account a range of perspectives, but also so that women are comfortable approaching leaders in sensitive areas such as healthcare and domestic violence.
Experience of leading a local council can also act as a springboard to standing for Holyrood or Westminster elections and low representation of women at this level can impact on women’s representation at higher levels of government.
This indicator measures the council leaders. The reference population was all council leaders. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The main source for many of the indicators is Engender’s Sex and Power in Scotland 2020 research paper - the information presented in this paper was researched in September and October 2019. The paper identifies and sets out the limitations of the data that it includes:
“The list of organisations and positions identified in this report is not comprehensive, but is indicative of the current gendered balance of power and decision-making in Scotland. As ever, Scottish-level data is sometimes missing or difficult to find, and not all occupational categories included can be compared like for like in terms of organisational scale. The influence and reach of cultural production organisations, for instance, is sizeable and cannot be easily measured. Sample sizes are often small, but still indicate patterns within respective fields. We reference sources and the methodology used to define occupational categories in relevant sections throughout the report.”
It should be noted that these are not ‘Official Statistics’.
Scotland has continued to deliver gender balanced cabinets in line with a commitment made by the First Minister after her election in 2014. This indicator looks at the gender balance of Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers weighted by amount of ministerial influence. In 2018/19, the women’s proportion of weighted ministerial influence was 49% (19 for women compared with 20 for men). As a result, Scotland’s gender equality score on this indicator is 97.
This gender balance is not matched, however, within Special Advisers where around two thirds of those advising and assisting Ministers are men. While Special Advisers are not elected positions, their role is at the heart of government strategy and decision-making.
Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, weighted by ministerial influence, by gender 2018/19
Source: Scottish Government
This indicator measures the cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, weighted by ministerial influence. The reference population was all Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data taken from the Scottish Government website - Cabinet and ministers
Special Advisers are not included within the indicator. Ministerial influence was weighted by: 4 - First Minister; 3 - Deputy First Minister & Cabinet Secretary for Finance; 2 - Other Cabinet Secretaries; 1 - Ministers (including Lord Advocate and Solicitor General). Data for the Ministers indicator relates to the Scottish Cabinet and Ministers as of the day of the 2018/19 Scottish Budget.
It should be noted that these are not ‘Official Statistics’.
In 2019, women made up just 36% of Scotland’s MSPs, which would place Scotland 30th in global rankings. Scotland’s gender equality score on this indicator is 72.
However, political parties within Scotland have made concerted efforts to redress the overrepresentation of men among their elected representatives, with all but one of the major parties adopting some form of gender-balancing mechanisms. The success of these practices will be seen with the results of the 2021 Holyrood election.
The introduction of quotas for MSPs was a key recommendation in the first report of the First Minister’s Advisory Council on Women and Girls in 2018. Outwith legislative powers, the Parliament has shown commitment to increasing women’s representation within its structures, which is reflected in the increase of female Committee conveners and the gender balance of the Corporate Body. It should be noted, however, that the membership of the Corporate Body changes on a frequent basis.
This indicator measures the number of MSPs. The reference population was all MSPs. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Data taken from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre SPICE
It should be noted that these are not ‘Official Statistics’.
The domain of health within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index measures gender equality in two health-related aspects: health status and access to health services.
Access to health services looks at the different patient experiences for women and men, treatment times and the percentage of women and men who report unmet medical and/or dental needs.
Health status looks at the differences in healthy life expectancy of women and men along with a measure of health risk behaviours (such as smoking and drinking), life satisfaction and mental wellbeing.
In the 2020 Gender Equality Index, Scotland’s score for the health domain was 99. This was a high score compared to the other domains and indicates strong gender equality for health. There was little difference between the two sub-domains, with both health access (99) and health status (98) recording scores close to 100.
A gender equality score of 100 represents full gender equality and a score of one represents no gender equality. The higher the score, the more gender equality there is.
Health Domain gender equality scores 2020
The domain of health within Scotland’s gender equality index measures gender equality in two health-related aspects: health status and access to health services. The expert working group felt it was important that these two areas were reflected in the index.
Access to health services looks at the different patient experiences for women and men, treatment times and the percentage of women and men who report unmet medical and/or dental needs.
Health status looks at the differences in healthy life expectancy of women and men along with a measure of health risk behaviours (such as smoking and drinking), life satisfaction and mental wellbeing.
It should be noted that Scotland’s Gender Equality Index also has a separate satellite domain on women-specific healthcare. This domain is designed to measure and understand aspects of health data which are not directly comparable by gender.
The right to health is a fundamental human right. It means that everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. For this to happen, services and systems that help us to live long healthy lives need to be accessible, available, appropriate and high quality. These standards are set out in the Triple AAAQ Framework.
The right to health is an inclusive right. This means that it is not just the health service that should meet these standards, but that all of the things that influence our health (including the social determinants of health) should be accessible, available, appropriate and high quality if we are to have a healthier Scotland. The persistence of health inequalities means that not everyone is enjoying their human right to the highest possible standard of health in Scotland.
The indicators included in the access to health services sub-domain are patient experience and unmet needs. The 2020 gender equality score for this sub-domain is 99.
Access Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
General practice and primary care are at the heart of the Scotland’s healthcare system and the Scottish Government’s priority is improving access for patients. It should be noted that there are a lot of factors (such as deprivation, urban-rural classification, age etc.) that feed into patient experience, and these should generally be considered when interpreting results in this area.
Scotland’s Gender Equality Index looks at the percentage of women and men who describe the overall care provided by their GP practice as “excellent” or “good”. In 2017/18 over four fifths of both women (82%) and men (84%) viewed the care they received in this way, leading to a high gender equality score of 99 for this indicator.
% of people who describe the overall care provided by their GP practice as “good” or “excellent”, by gender 2017/18
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
The Health and Care Experience Survey asks questions on ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
General practice - demographics data visualisation by Information Services Division shows a data visualisation of a range of GP practice demographics data, broken down at practice, HSCP, Board and Scotland level. The visualisation shows practice list sizes broken down by age, gender, and SIMD. It also highlights changes in practice populations between quarters, the number of patients registered in the last year and patients living in care homes.
This indicator measures the percentage of people who describe the overall care provided by their GP practice as “good” or “excellent”. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The Scottish Health and Care Experience Survey is a postal survey which was sent to a random sample of people who are registered with a GP in Scotland. The survey has been run every two years since 2009 and forms part of the Scottish Care Experience Survey Programme, which is a suite of national surveys aiming to provide local and national information on the quality of health and care services from the perspective of those using them.
Questionnaires were sent out asking about people’s experiences during the previous 12 months. The survey asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and their caring responsibilities.
The focus of this report is on the national results of the survey. Comparisons have been made with the previous iterations of this survey where this is possible. A copy of the questionnaire can be found here
Results for each GP practice, GP Cluster, Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Board are available via an online dashboard
Quality of Care Experience is also an indicator within Scotland’s National Performance Framework NPF
General practice and primary care are at the heart of the Scotland’s healthcare system and the Scottish Government’s priority is improving access for patients.
Scotland’s Gender Equality Index looks at the percentage of women and men who had not received any help from their GP but felt that they needed it. In 2017/18 this applied to a very small proportion of both women (2.1%) and men (2.3%), leading to a high gender equality score of 100 for this indicator.
% of adults that they have not had any care, support or help with everyday living, but feel that they needed it, by gender 2017/18
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
The Health and Care Experience Survey asks questions on ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
General practice - demographics data visualisation by Information Services Division shows a data visualisation of a range of GP practice demographics data, broken down at practice, HSCP, Board and Scotland level. The visualisation shows practice list sizes broken down by age, gender, and SIMD. It also highlights changes in practice populations between quarters, the number of patients registered in the last year and patients living in care homes.
This indicator measures the percentage of adults that they have not had any care, support or help with everyday living, but feel that they needed it. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. For consistency, indicator data was reversed before calculating the equality score so that high percentages correspond to the more desirable outcome. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The Scottish Health and Care Experience Survey is a postal survey which was sent to a random sample of people who are registered with a GP in Scotland. The survey has been run every two years since 2009 and forms part of the Scottish Care Experience Survey Programme, which is a suite of national surveys aiming to provide local and national information on the quality of health and care services from the perspective of those using them.
Questionnaires were sent out asking about people’s experiences during the previous 12 months. The survey asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local healthcare services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and their caring responsibilities.
The focus of this report is on the national results of the survey. Comparisons have been made with the previous iterations of this survey where this is possible. A copy of the questionnaire can be found here
Results for each GP practice, GP Cluster, Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Board are available via an online dashboard
The health status sub-domain gives an indication of physical and mental health and wellbeing, along with behaviours that have an impact on these. It is aimed at identifying any health inequalities between women and men in Scotland and in 2020 each of the four indicator scores were close to 100 indicating relative equality in the health status of women and men.
The health risks score was 98
The healthy life expectancy score was 98
The life satisfaction score was 97
The mental wellbeing score was 100
Status Sub-Domain gender equality scores 2020
The health risks indicator of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is based on the percentage of adults with two or more health risk behaviours as measured in the Scottish Health Survey. These behaviours are:
Current smoker
Harmful drinking
Low physical activity
Obesity
The proportion of women with two or more risk behaviours in 2018 was 27% and the proportion of men was 30%, leading to a high gender equality score of 98 for this indicator.
This indicator is also included in Scotland’s National Performance Framework NPF. This indicator can be broken down by age, disability, gender and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder.
% of adults with two or more health risk behaviours (current smoker, harmful drinking, low physical activity, obesity), by gender 2016 to 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) asks a number of equality questions that are common across household surveys in Scotland. These cover age, ethnicity, religion, long-term conditions and sexual orientation.
The SSCQ gathers survey responses from identical indicator questions in the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Household Survey into one output.
This indicator measures the percentage of adults with two or more health risk behaviours (current smoker, harmful drinking, low physical activity, obesity). The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. For consistency, indicator data was reversed before calculating the equality score so that high percentages correspond to the more desirable outcome. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
This indicator measures the proportion of adults with two or more health risk behaviours. Health risk behaviours are classed as being a current smoker, harmful drinking, low physical activity and obesity.
The data for this indicator is drawn from a section of the Scottish Health Survey.
The four health risks included in this indicator are:
Current smoker
Drinking above the recommended weekly limit of 14 units per week
Failing to meet the physical activity recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderately intensive physical activity or 75 minutes vigorous activity per week or an equivalent combination of both
Obesity (having a Body Mass Index of 30 or over)
This indicator is also included in Scotland’s National Performance Framework (NPF).
Healthy life expectancy is the average number of years that an individual is expected to live in a state of self-assessed “good” or “very good” health, based on current mortality rates and prevalence of “good” or “very good” health.
In 2016-18, women spent 77% of their life in good health and men spent 80%, leading to a high gender equality score of 98 for this indicator. The overall life expectancy for women in Scotland was higher in 2016-2018 (81.1 years for women vs 77 years for men) (NRS).
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
NRS publish life expectancy and healthy life expectancy estimates by age and SIMD for Scottish areas.
Proportion of life spent in “good” health, by SIMD quintile and gender 2016-18
Source: NRS Life Expectancy
This indicator measures the proportion of life spent in “good” health. The reference population was people born between 2016 and 2018. The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
NRS publish life expectancy and healthy life expectancy estimates for Scottish areas.
ScotPHO also present information in this area.
Life satisfaction is measured in the Scottish Health Survey by asking participants to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, how satisfied they are with their life in general. On the scale, 0 represented “extremely dissatisfied” and 10 “extremely satisfied”.
In 2018, 36% of women rated their life satisfaction as 9+ compared to 34% of men, leading to a high gender equality score of 97 for this indicator.
% of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+, by gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) asks a number of equality questions that are common across household surveys in Scotland. These cover age, ethnicity, religion, long-term conditions and sexual orientation.
The SSCQ gathers survey responses from identical indicator questions in the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Household Survey into one output.
% of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+, by age and gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
% of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+, by disability and gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
% of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+, by income and gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
% of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+, by SIMD quintile and gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
This indicator measures the percentage of adults rating their life satisfaction as 9+. The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
Life satisfaction is measured in the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) by asking participants to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, how satisfied they are with their life in general. On the scale, 0 represented “extremely dissatisfied”” and 10 “extremely satisfied”. This measure has been used in numerous international surveys. There are no pre-defined cut-off points within the scale to distinguish between different levels of satisfaction. However, a summary measure was used in the SHeS analysis which identified three groups of interest based on the overall distribution of scores in the whole population: people with the highest levels of satisfaction (scores of 9 or 10), people with an average satisfaction level (score 8), and those with below average scores (0-7).
This indicator measures the mean score for women and men on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), a common measure of mental wellbeing.
In 2018, the average score for women on the WEMWBS was 50 compared to 49 of men, leading to a high gender equality score of 100 for this indicator.
Average scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), by gender 2018
Source: Scottish Health Survey (SHeS)
Breakdowns are available in this data collection as indicated below. Intersectional data may be available from Scottish Government analysts via ad hoc requests. Some intersectional data, however, may not be able to be disclosed due to small numbers.
The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) asks a number of equality questions that are common across household surveys in Scotland. These cover age, ethnicity, religion, long-term conditions and sexual orientation.
The SSCQ gathers survey responses from identical indicator questions in the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Household Survey into one output.
This indicator measures the average scores on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). The reference population was all adults (16+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The source for this indicator is the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS).
This indicator can be broken down by age, gender, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, disability and urban rural classification. These breakdowns can be viewed on the Equality Evidence Finder.
WEMWBS is a scale of 14 positively worded items for assessing a population’s mental wellbeing. Warwick and Edinburgh Universities developed WEMWBS in 2006 to support work to develop Scottish mental health indicators for adults.
WEMWBS is suitable for adults aged 16 and above and also for use at a population level in teenagers aged 13 years and over in samples of over 100. A shortened version with seven items - the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) - is also available.
More information can be found from Public Health Scotland.
The domain of women-specific healthcare is designed to measure and understand aspects of health data which are not directly comparable by gender. Unlike other domains, this satellite domain does not provide a score based on equality between men and women, but rather analyses specific areas of health data specific to women only. Hence, the figures are not included in the calculation of the main index.
This chapter shows some heath challenges that are either unique to, or experienced by women. Regardless, this domain should be considered alongside other domains as it is connected with enduring inequalities in the fields of work, health, money, power, knowledge, violence against women and time.
The sub-domains within the women specific health domain are: Termination of Pregnancy, IVF waiting times, Contraception, and Maternal Health.
Key findings are as follows:
In 2019, 13 terminations of pregnancy were performed per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in Scotland, half of which were to women in their twenties. There was a strong association between deprivation and termination rates.
As a result of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, no new IVF treatment was started after 17 March 2020. In May, permission to restart services was granted and IVF Centres began a stepped restart of services. This has impacted waiting times in the months to September 2020.
54 per 1,000 women aged 15-49 in Scotland used long lasting reversible contraception (LARC) in 2019/20. LARC includes the contraceptive implant, intrauterine device (IUD) and intrauterine system (IUS).
Younger women, and women from more deprived areas were more likely to smoke during pregnancy. Older women (in terms of childbearing age) and women who live in more deprived areas were more likely to be overweight or obese at their antenatal booking. Fewer women rated their mental and physical health positively during and following pregnancy than before pregnancy.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines reproductive health as a “state of physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system. It addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life and implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life, and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so.”
The management of reproductive health is an important element of the majority of women’s lives. Women-specific health is measured in a number of ways which aim to capture the spectrum of reproductive experiences lived by women. This analysis does not cover all aspects of reproductive health but rather highlights some of the main areas for which we have sufficient data, and as guided by our expert working group.
This domain shows that some unique heath challenges are experienced by women in different ways. The main objective of this section is to highlight health experiences which are less comparable by gender, but key to understanding gender equality.
Unlike other domains, this satellite domain does not provide a score based on equality between men and women, but rather analyses areas of health data specific to women only. Regardless, this domain should be considered alongside other domains as it is connected with enduring inequalities in the fields of work, health, money, power, knowledge, time and violence against women. The sub-domains within the women specific health domain are: termination of pregnancy, IVF waiting times, contraception, and maternal health.
For this domain we make use of public health data: as reported by medical professionals and, in the case of the maternal health, provided by women themselves.
In 2019, of the seven statutory grounds for termination, the vast majority (13,365; 98%) were carried out under Ground C; because “the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.”
In recent years there have been amendments to legislation regarding the provision of terminations of pregnancy in Scotland, allowing misoprostol (the second drug used in a medical termination) to be taken at home. Almost half of medical terminations in 2019 involved self-administration of misoprostol in the home setting.
In 2019, the second highest number of terminations was recorded since the new regulations were introduced: 13,583, or 13 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 (more detail on change over time is available in the source publication).
Half of all terminations were to women in their twenties in 2019, and every three in 10 terminations are now in women aged 20-24.
The charts below show termination rates by SIMD quintile and by age.
Number of terminations by age 2019
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
The highest number of terminations in 2019 were seen for the 20-24 age group (3,929 terminations). This was followed by 25-29 year olds (3,254 terminations), and then 30-34 year olds (2,460 terminations). A lower number of number of terminations were seen for the oldest and youngest age groups: forty+ (581 terminations), and 16 and under (135 terminations).
Number of terminations by SIMD quintile 2019
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
The number of terminations was lower in the least deprived areas. In the most deprived quintile there were 3,993 terminations in 2019, and in the least deprived quintile there were 1,779 terminations.
Further analysis according to deprivation is available in the source publication.
An abortion can be induced (therapeutic) or spontaneous (miscarriage). An induced abortion can be performed either medically (using approved drugs) or surgically. This data reports on induced (therapeutic) abortions only. Induced abortions are referred to as terminations of pregnancy to avoid confusion with spontaneous abortions (miscarriages).
There is a legal requirement to notify the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of all terminations carried out in Scotland. Public Health Scotland (PHS) is responsible for the collation of data derived from notifications of abortions on behalf of the CMO in Scotland.
PHS provides an annual update on Termination of Pregnancy Statistics. This data is derived from the Notifications of Abortion to the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland (CMO) under the Abortion (Scotland) Regulations 1991. Information is provided by age, gestation, method of termination, NHS Board of residence and treatment, deprivation area, previous termination and ground(s) for termination.
There are seven statutory grounds for termination of pregnancy (Grounds A to G) and at least one must be recorded on every notification form. Occasionally, notifications may record more than one statutory ground resulting in the numbers and percentages of grounds exceeding the total number of terminations.
As in previous years, the vast majority of terminations (13,365; 98%) were carried out under Ground C (because “the pregnancy has not exceeded its 24th week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.”)
This data is generally considered to be of a high quality, although occasional omissions and administrative errors in submitting notification forms can occur, and may lead to some underreporting.
2019 data is provisional.
Further information on data quality is available here
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is an effective method of assisted reproductive technology used to treat infertility
The Scottish Government requires NHS Scotland to measure the length of time people wait for treatment. The target is that 90% of eligible patients will begin IVF treatment within 12 months. The 90% standard continues to be met since it was first measured in March 2015.
As a result of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, Scottish IVF Centres collectively agreed not to start any new treatment after 17 March 2020. In May, permission to restart services was granted by the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA). IVF Centres began a stepped restart in line with the framework for restarting fertility services. This has impacted waiting times in the months to September 2020, as shown in the below chart.
Number of patients referred, seen and waiting January 2019 - September 2020
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
At 30 September 2020, 785 eligible patients were waiting for an IVF screening appointment, compared to 609 patients at 30 September 2019.
This chart shows a drop in referrals and patients who have been seen from March 2020, and a corresponding rise in the number of eligible patients waiting for screening. However, we see the beginning of a rise towards more typical rates for referrals in June 2020 and for patients who have been seen in August 2020. There is a slight drop in the number of women waiting in September 2020, although the number of patients waiting remains higher than the previous year.
Due to the initial pausing of services and reduction in referrals, the distribution of patients in respect of how long those still waiting to be screened had waited had changed quite considerably: further details on waiting times are available in the source publication.
IVF data is collected and presented at IVF Centre and NHS Board level. A more detailed breakdown by equality characteristics is not available.
Data requests can be made at to Public Health Scotland.
IVF is an effective method of assisted reproductive technology used to treat infertility. This includes intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for male infertility.
Where PHS refers to IVF, this includes IVF and ICSI. One full cycle of IVF includes ovulation induction, egg retrieval, fertilisation, transfer of fresh embryos, followed by freezing of suitable embryos and subsequent replacement of these provided the couple still fulfill the access criteria.
The Scottish Government requires NHS Scotland to measure the length of time people wait for treatment. The target is that 90% of eligible patients will begin IVF treatment within 12 months. This is measured by the percentage of patients who were screened at an IVF Centre within 12 months of referral from a secondary care/acute consultant. The Scottish Government set this target from 31 March 2015 and it is now a Local Delivery Plan (LDP) standard.
Public Health Scotland reports on how long eligible patients waited from referral to screening appointment for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment by the NHS in Scotland.
Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC)
In typical use, ‘long acting’ methods of contraception, e.g. the contraceptive implant, intrauterine system (IUS), and the intrauterine device (IUD), have a lower failure rate than alternative reversible methods, such as the contraceptive pill or condoms.
Key findings from the source publication include the following:
Prescribing of LARC generally remained stable in recent years at around 52 per 1,000 women but increased slightly to 54 per 1,000 women in 2019/20, which is the highest rate in the reported period (reporting from 2013/14).
The most common method of LARC was the contraceptive implant: prescribing rates for this method were 26 per 1,000 women compared to 21 per 1,000 for the IUS and nearly 7 per 1,000 for the IUD. Both the IUS and IUD have also shown a steady increase in rates in recent years.
There is variation between which method is prescribed by age. Women under the age of 35 were more likely to be prescribed the contraceptive implant while women aged 35 and over were more likely to be prescribed the IUS.
The below charts show the combined rates of long acting reversible contraception by age and by deprivation rate, per 1000 women aged 15-49.
Number of women per 1,000 prescribed long-acting reversible contraception, by age 2019/20
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
Younger age groups have higher rates of LARC than older groups. The age group with the highest rates of LARC are the 20-24 year old group, at 60 per 1,000 women. The lowest rates are seen in the 40-44 year old age group, at 35 per 1,000 women.
Number of women per 1,000 prescribed long-acting reversible contraception, by SIMD quintile 2019/20
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
This chart shows that in 2019/2020 the rates of LARC were higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived areas: 44 per 1,000 women, and 40 per 1,000 women respectively.
Public Health Scotland reports on the prescribing rate of long acting reversible contraception (LARC) to women of reproductive age (15-49) in primary care and sexual health settings.
This data on contraception includes the contraceptive implant, IUD and IUS. Contraceptive injections are also reported on in the source publication (at around 23 per 1000 women of reproductive age) but are presented separately. As multiple contraceptive injections are required per year it is difficult with the current information to determine person level data.
The Maternal Health Sub-Domain reports on health risks for pregnant women along with self-assessed physical health before, during and after pregnancy.
Maternal Smoking
Fewer women now smoke in pregnancy, continuing a downward trend. Wider policies to control tobacco use, e.g. banning smoking in public places, are likely to have had an impact on the number of women smoking both before and during pregnancy.
% of women who smoked during pregnancy 2019
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
In 2019 around one in seven (15%) expectant women were current smokers at the time of their antenatal booking appointment, the lowest since reporting began. For comparison, around one in three (31%) expectant women were current smokers in 1997/98.
In 2019 a further one in eight women (12%) were former smokers at the time of their appointment, whilst almost three out of four women (73%) had never smoked.
Age
Whilst the level of smoking amongst women has fallen steadily across all age groups, women aged under 25 years are approximately three times more likely to be a current smoker at their booking than women aged 35 and over.
The high percentage of smokers among the under-20s (33%) is particularly notable, compared to 27% in the 20-24 age group. This may be partly due to teenage pregnancies being more common in disadvantaged areas where smoking rates are highest.
SIMD
SIMD is the Scottish Government’s official measure of area-based multiple deprivation.
There is a strong association between the deprivation category recorded for mothers and their recorded smoking status. Women who live in the most deprived areas are eight times more likely to be a current smoker than women from the least deprived areas
In 2018/19, a higher percentage of women were recorded as smoking during pregnancy in more deprived areas: 27% in the most deprived SIMD quintile compared with 3% in the least deprived quintile.
Smoking during pregnancy can cause serious health problems for both mother and baby. These include: complications during labour and an increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth, low birthweight and sudden unexpected death in infancy. Given the maternal and foetal risks associated with smoking during pregnancy, pregnant women are strongly advised not to smoke. Known risk factors for smoking during pregnancy include young maternal age and lower socioeconomic status.
Information on smoking behaviour in pregnancy is collected as part of Public Health Scotland’s SMR02 data scheme. The information presented here refers to smoking history recorded when a woman attends her first antenatal booking appointment. Concerns have been raised about the completeness and quality of the SMR02 data, particularly in relation to the number / percentage of pregnant women whose smoking status is recorded as “not known”. Some of these women may, in fact, be smokers. As such, the percentage recorded as current smokers may underestimate the true smoking prevalence among pregnant women. Care should, therefore, be taken when interpreting this data.
Statistics on maternal smoking in Scotland are available on the Maternity and Births section of the Public Health Scotland website.
The 2016 version of SIMD is used when discussing deprivation.
Maternal Body Mass Index (BMI)
Monitoring the BMI of expectant mothers is important because obesity in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of a number of serious adverse outcomes, including miscarriage. There is also a higher caesarean section rate and lower breastfeeding rate in this group of women compared to those with a healthy BMI. There is even evidence to suggest that obesity may be a risk factor for maternal death. Increasing maternal age and deprivation are both known to be risk factors for a higher maternal BMI.
Maternal Body Mass Index 2019
Source: Public Health Scotland (PHS)
In Scotland in 2019, of those women delivering who had a known BMI: 3% were underweight at the time of booking; 45% were a healthy weight; 28% were overweight and; 25% were obese. This high level of maternal obesity has implications for maternity and neonatal service provision.
Age
In line with other countries, the risk of having too high a BMI varied by maternal age in Scotland in 2018/19, with older women tending to be more overweight. The proportion of women who were overweight or obese ranged from 39% in women under 20 years old to 61% in women who were aged 40 and over. There has been a gradual increase in the proportion of overweight and obese women in all the age groups in the past five years.
SIMD
In 2018/19 the relationship between maternal BMI and deprivation continued to be seen in Scotland. The proportion of women who were overweight or obese at the time of their antenatal booking ranged from 43% in the least deprived areas to 57% in the most deprived areas. The proportion of women (and men) who were overweight or obese has generally increased in recent years. This increase has been steeper in women from the most deprived areas. Proportions in the least deprived areas have been broadly static over the last five years whilst proportions in the most deprived areas have been increasing gradually. Therefore, we have seen a widening of the deprivation gap in relation to maternal BMI over time.
BMI rates
Below 18.5 - Underweight
Between 18.5 and 24.9 - Healthy
Between 25 and 29.9 - Overweight
30 or more - Obese
Mother’s height and weight have been mandatory data items on SMR02 since April 2011 and are recorded at the antenatal booking appointment. Where a height or weight was not available or either value was considered to be an outlier, the BMI was categorised as “unknown”.
The outliers are:
Weight less than or equal to 35kg or greater than or equal to 250kg.
Height less than 1m or greater than or equal to 2.2m.
Data quality for maternal BMI in Scotland has been generally good until recent years. Recording improved markedly from 2013/14 onward as the proportion of those women recorded with an unknown BMI dropped, however there has been a sharp increase in the numbers of “unknown” in 2017/18 and 2018/19. This is primarily due to incomplete recording taking place at NHS Tayside. There remains variability across NHS boards in Scotland in terms of data completeness for maternal BMI.
Maternity Care Survey
The Maternity Care Survey was a postal survey which was sent to a random sample of women who had a baby in February or March 2018. The survey asked about women’s experiences of maternity services, from antenatal care through to postnatal care at home. For our purposes we look in more detail at women’s self-assessed health: both physical and mental. Women were asked to rate their health before, during and after pregnancy using one of the following categories: “very poor”, “poor”, “fair”, “good”, or “excellent”. The charts below show the proportion of women who rated their heath positively (“excellent” or “good”).
As well as Physical and Mental Health, the Maternity Care Survey reports findings on Midwife-led Units, Neonatal Care, Feeding, and Postnatal Care at Home and in the Community.
% of women rated their physical health as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ 2018
Source: Maternity Care Survey
In 2018, 92% per cent of women rated their physical health as “excellent” or “good” before pregnancy. This decreased to 70% per cent when asked about their physical health during pregnancy. Thinking about their physical health during pregnancy, 79% per cent of women responded “excellent” or “good”.
% of women rated their mental health as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ 2018
Source: Maternity Care Survey
A similar pattern was seen in responses about emotional / mental health. However the decrease during pregnancy was smaller, only dropping to 80% per cent from 91% per cent before pregnancy. Thinking about their emotional / mental health during pregnancy, 82% per cent of women said that it was “excellent” or “good”.
No publications have been released on intersectionality using this data. Further, limited data is collected on equalities as the Maternity Care Survey has a relatively small sample size and there are too few responses to many of the equalities questions asked.
Ad-hoc analyses can be requested from this mailbox.
The Maternity Care Survey was a postal survey which was sent to a random sample of women who had a baby in February or March 2018. This was the third iteration of the survey, following on from the first run in 2013 and the second run in 2015. The survey asked about women’s experiences of maternity services, from antenatal care through to postnatal care at home.
The survey programme supports the three quality ambitions of the 2020 Vision - Safe, Effective, Person-centred - by providing a basis for the measurement of quality as experienced by service users across Scotland. In particular the surveys support the person-centred quality ambition which is focused on ensuring that care is responsive to people’s individual preferences, needs and values.
Just over 2,000 women who gave birth in Scotland in February or March 2018 responded to the 2018 Maternity Care Survey.
Women eligible to be sampled for the survey were those who gave birth in Scotland in February or March 2018 and were aged 17 or over at that date. In total, 5,064 surveys were sent to eligible respondents and 2,049 were returned completed, giving an overall response rate of 40%.
The figures used in this domain are unweighted.
More information about the survey design, response rates and methodology can be found in the Technical Report.
The domain of violence against women is designed to measure the level of violence against women in Scottish society. Similar to the EIGE (European Institute for Gender Equality) Gender Equality Index, the violence against women domain exists here as a satellite domain and does not contribute to the overall Index score. Here, the focus is on the eradication of violence against women rather than its equivalence to men. Nevertheless, violence against women must be considered alongside other domains as it reflects enduring inequalities in the fields of work, health, money, power, knowledge and time.
The sub-domains within the violence against women domain are partner abuse, sexual harassment and victimisation, disclosure, femicide and safety.
What is evident from this domain is that while Scotland is taking important steps to eradicating violence against women through the Equally Safe strategy adopted in 2014, violence continues to occur. The violence that is taking place is also having lasting effects on women, both psychologically and physically. Estimates about the extent of violence occurring may be hampered by low disclosure rates, especially to criminal justice professionals/police. Importantly, feelings of safety have increased over the last 10 years, with more women feeling safe walking alone in their local area after dark. Nonetheless, the number of women who feel safe remains low in comparison to men.
The satellite domain of violence against women within Scotland’s Gender Equality Index is designed to measure the levels of violence against women in Scottish society. Unlike other domains (except women-specific health), this satellite domain does not provide a score based on equality between men and women, but rather it presents women’s experiences of violence. The main objective is to eliminate violence against women in Scotland, not to reduce gaps between the violence experienced by men and women.
The Scottish Government adopts a broad definition of violence against women and girls which ties in with the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Violence against women and girls refers to a range of actions that harm, or cause suffering and indignity to women and children, including:
Physical, sexual and psychological violence in the family, general community or institutions. This includes domestic abuse, rape, incest and child sexual abuse
Sexual harassment and intimidation at work and in public
Commercial sexual exploitation including prostitution, pornography and trafficking
So called ‘honour based’ violence, including dowry-related violence, female genital mutilation, forced and child marriages and ‘honour’ crimes
The Scottish Government takes a gendered analysis of violence against women, recognising that it is:
Caused by the fact that men and women are not equal, and in turn
Causes inequality between women and men
The elimination of violence against women is, therefore, vital to achieving gender equality in Scotland. To this end, the Scottish Government introduced the Equally Safe strategy in 2014, which aims to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls by producing a framework for change across four overarching priorities:
Scottish society embraces equality and mutual respect, and rejects all forms of violence against women and girls
Women and girls thrive as equal citizens: socially, culturally, economically and politically
Interventions are early and effective, preventing violence and maximising the safety and wellbeing of women, children and young people
Men desist from all forms of violence against women and girls and perpetrators of such violence receive a robust and effective response
Equally Safe recognises the importance of intersectionality and focuses on the fact that along with their gender, women and girls have other protected characteristics that increases their level of risk of experiencing violence and abuse. Drivers for this are often the continuing prejudice and structural barriers in society which cause inequality. These protected characteristics include: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief and sexual orientation.
The first sub-domain is partner abuse, which is measured by two indicators: the incidence of partner abuse, both psychological and physical, and the severity of this abuse.
The second sub-domain is sexual harassment and victimisation, which is measured by the incidence of harassment and stalking, as well as the incidence of serious sexual assault.
The third sub-domain is disclosure, which is measured by two indicators: the disclosure of forced sexual intercourse and the disclosure of partner abuse.
The fourth sub-domain is femicide and is measured using data on the rate of femicide using homicide statistics.
The final sub-domain is safety, and this is measured by women’s perceptions of their safety when walking alone at night.
Partner abuse, or domestic abuse as it is commonly known, is defined as any form of physical, non-physical or sexual abuse, which takes place within the context of a close relationship, committed either in the home or elsewhere. This relationship will be between partners (married, co-habiting or otherwise) or ex-partners. The term ‘partner abuse’ has been used in Scotland’s Gender Equality Index in order to maintain consistency with the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), the main data source for this satellite domain.
In this context, partner abuse can be considered as falling into two categories – psychological and physical. Psychological abuse is commonly known as coercive control, and was made illegal by the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018. Coercive control is a pattern of degrading treatment over time -it can include humiliation, intimidation and other forms of emotional and psychological abuse -that is used to harm, punish or frighten a partner/ex-partner.
Partner abuse is a prevalent form of violence against women, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimating that worldwide almost a third (30%) of women who have been in a relationship have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner in their lifetime.
The partner abuse sub-domain within the violence against women domain of Scotland’s Gender Equality Index consists of two indicators: the incidence of partner abuse, and the severity of this abuse. The incidence of partner abuse is measured as the percentage of women who had experienced partner abuse (psychological or physical) in the previous 12 months, and severity was measured using data on the percentage of women who have experienced at least one type of psychological and/or physical effect as a result of partner abuse in the last 12 months. These measures are both respondents’ self-reported views of incidents.
The below chart shows the level of partner abuse in Scotland in 2016-18, and change over time. In 2016-18 the percentage of women who had experienced partner abuse (psychological or physical) in the previous 12 months was 3.6%. In 2008/09 4.2% of women had experienced partner abuse in the previous 12 months, while in 2014/15 the percentage was 3.4%.
It should be noted that these statistics may underestimate the incidence of partner abuse as some women may not feel comfortable disclosing that they have experienced partner abuse. These issues are covered in more detail in the disclosure sub-domain.
% of women who had experienced partner abuse (psychological or physical) in the previous 12 months 2008/09 to 2016-18
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result. Evidence from the data source indicates that younger women (aged 16-24) are more likely than any women of any other age to have experienced partner abuse (9.9% compared to 3.6% of all women).
Data for this indicator comes from the SCJS. Specifically it is drawn from the self-completion element of the survey. The sample size for this element was 4,888 (89% of respondents to the main survey) in 2017/18, and 5,153 (92% of respondents to the main survey) in 2016/17.
The questionnaire is completed by respondents on the interviewer’s tablet PC (Computer Assisted Self-completion Interviewing -CASI). This ensures confidentiality when answering sensitive questions or those on illicit behaviour.
Data completed within the self-completion element of the SCJS in 2016/17 and 2017/18 has been collated to increase the sample size, and is published biennially. The 2017/18 SCJS publication contains combined 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-completion data.
The definition of partner abuse is not introduced at the start of the SCJS and the terms ‘partner abuse’ or ‘domestic abuse’ are not used in the survey until the final question of the section. Rather, respondents are asked to identify which, if any, of a list of psychological and physical abusive behaviours they have experienced since the age of 16, and in the 12 months prior to interview.
It is worth noting that the partner abuse questions of the self-completion section of the SCJS do not ask whether offenders were in Scotland or not, therefore potentially some incidents which were perpetrated, or occurred, outwith Scotland (including online) may be included in the data.
SCJS is the most comprehensive survey of public experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. For further details see the latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey publication.
Alongside the level of partner abuse in Scotland, it is important to also measure the severity of that abuse. Severity measures the effects of partner abuse, both psychologically (mental health) and physically (physical, sexual and reproductive health). These effects can impact on a woman’s ability to take part in other domains discussed in Scotland’s Gender Index, for example work.
In 2016-18, 80% of women experiencing partner abuse had at least one psychological effect as a result of the most recent (or only) incident of psychological or physical abuse partner abuse in the previous 12 months. In comparison in 2014/15 the figure was 74%.
In 2016-18, 27% of women experienced at least one type of physical effect as a result of the most recent incident of psychological or physical partner abuse in the previous 12 months. In 2014/15 the percentage was 36%.
% of women who experienced at least one type of physical or psychological effect as a result of the most recent incident of partner abuse in the previous 12 months, 2016-18
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result.
Data for this indicator comes from the SCJS. Specifically it is drawn from the self-completion element of the survey. The sample size for this element was 4,888 (89% of respondents to the main survey) in 2017/18, and 5,153 (92% of respondents to the main survey) in 2016/17.
The questionnaire is completed by respondents on the interviewer’s tablet PC (Computer Assisted Self-completion Interviewing -CASI). This ensures confidentiality when answering sensitive questions or those on illicit behaviour.
Data completed within the self-completion element of the SCJS in 2016/17 and 2017/18 has been collated to increase the sample size, and is published biennially. The 2017/18 SCJS publication contains combined 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-completion data.
In order to measure the impact of partner abuse, respondents who reported experiencing at least one incident of partner abuse in the 12 months prior to interview were asked if they had experienced a range of effects, both psychological and physical, as a result of the most recent (or only) incident of abuse.
It is worth noting that the partner abuse questions of the self-completion section of the SCJS do not ask whether offenders were in Scotland or not, therefore potentially some incidents which were perpetrated, or occurred, outwith Scotland (including online) may be included in the data.
When assessing change over time, it should be noted that the lack of statistically significant change between 2014/15 and 2016-17 is to be expected as a result of the small sample size involved in the self-completion element of the SCJS.
Sexual harassment and victimisation can take place in any sphere of life: in the workplace, in the home or in wider society. The Equality Act 2010 defines sexual harassment as unwelcome sexual behaviour which compromises your dignity and makes you feel offended, humiliated, intimidated or threatened. Sexual harassment may be verbal, non-verbal or physical.
Respondents of the SCJS were asked about their experiences of stalking and harassment in the 12 months prior to interview, including victim-offender relationships and reporting to the police.
In 2016-18, 11.6% of women had experienced stalking or harassment in the past 12 months by any perpetrator. 0.4% of women had experienced more serious sexual assault in the previous 12 months.
% of women who have experienced a more serious sexual assault or sexual harassment in the previous 12 months, 2016-18
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result.
Data from SCJS demonstrates that experiences of at least one form of stalking and harassment in the last 12 months were higher among people aged 16-24 (19.0%), than any other age group. Within this age group experiences of stalking and harassment were higher among women aged 16-24 (26.9%), compared to men of the same age (12.1%).
Data for this indicator comes from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey SCJS. Specifically it is drawn from the self-completion element of the survey. The sample size for this element was 4,888 (89% of respondents to the main survey) in 2017/18, and 5,153 (92% of respondents to the main survey) in 2016/17.
The questionnaire is completed by respondents on the interviewer’s tablet PC (Computer Assisted Self-completion Interviewing -CASI). This ensures confidentiality when answering sensitive questions or those on illicit behaviour.
Data collected within the self-completion element of the SCJS in 2016/17 and 2017/18 has been collated to increase the sample size, and is published biennially. The 2017/18 SCJS publication contains combined 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-completion data.
It is worth noting that the stalking and harassment questions of the self-completion section do not ask whether offenders were in Scotland or not, therefore potentially some incidents which were perpetrated, or occurred, outwith Scotland (including online) may be included in the data.
The stalking and harassment self-completion module of the SCJS asks respondents if they have experienced one or more of the following types of incidents:
Being sent unwanted letters or cards on a number of occasions
Being sent unwanted emails or text messages or posts on social media sites on a number of occasions
Receiving a number of unwanted phone calls
Having someone waiting outside their home or workplace on more than one occasion
Being followed around on more than one occasion
Having intimate pictures of them shared without their consent, for example by text, on a website, or on a social media site on more than one occasion each of which can be viewed as a form of stalking and harassment.
The data does not show whether respondents themselves viewed their experiences as stalking or harassment; some respondents may also have included incidents which would not be classed as stalking and harassment, for example, potentially, receiving cold-calling sales phone calls.
More serious sexual assault is categorised in SCJS as:
Forcing someone to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to
Attempting to force someone to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to
Forcing someone to take part in other sexual activity when they did not want to
Attempting to force someone to take part in other sexual activity when they did not want to
The sub-domain of disclosure focuses on whether, and to whom, women who have experienced violence disclose their experiences. Violence against women, including forced sexual intercourse and partner abuse, continue to be underreported meaning that official figures are likely to merely be the tip of the iceberg. While the overall goal in Scottish society is to eradicate violence against women, understanding who women do (or do not) tell is vital to improving the support provided while it still continues.
The below chart demonstrates that women who have experienced forced sexual intercourse are far more likely to tell an individual (47.5%), than a support service (19.4%), a health professional (17.2%) or a mental health professional (16.0%), social services (1.1%), or ‘other’ (6.5%).
Importantly, only 1.4% of women said they had told criminal justice professionals. This reinforces the fact that judiciary/police figures relating to forced sexual intercourse are likely to significantly underestimate the rates of forced sexual intercourse in Scotland. In addition, two fifths (39.9%) of women who had experienced forced sexual intercourse in the past 12 months had told none of the listed services or people.
% of women having experienced forced sexual intercourse in the past 12 months and have told 2016-18
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result.
Data for this indicator comes from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS). Specifically it is drawn from the self-completion element of the survey. The sample size for this element was 4,888 (89% of respondents to the main survey) in 2017/18, and 5,153 (92% of respondents to the main survey) in 2016/17.
The questionnaire is completed by respondents on the interviewer’s tablet PC (Computer Assisted Self-completion Interviewing -CASI). This ensures confidentiality when answering sensitive questions or those on illicit behaviour.
Data completed within the self-completion element of the SCJS in 2016/17 and 2017/18 has been collated to increase the sample size, and is published biennially. The 2017/18 SCJS publication contains combined 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-completion data.
The sample for this indicator is made up of 155 women who had experienced forced sexual intercourse since age 16. They were asked about their most recent experience (in the last 12 months).
The groupings for this indicator are as follows:
Individual: friends or relative; neighbours; someone at work
Support services: Women’s Aid group; victim support services; Scottish Domestic Abuse helpline; Rape Crisis helpline
Health: health professional
Mental health: counsellor/therapist
Criminal justice: legal professional
Social services: social services
Other: any other helpline; websites; someone else
Women who had experienced partner abuse in the previous 12 months were more likely to tell an individual (55.5%) than a health professional (22.4%), a support service (13.2%), a mental health professional (8.9%), social services (5.2%), or ‘other’ (10.1%).
One tenth (10.2%) of women who had experienced partner abuse in the previous 12 months had told criminal justice professionals. This is compared to 1% for women who had experienced forced sexual intercourse in the previous 12 months, indicating that women who had experienced partner abuse are more likely than women who had experienced forced sexual intercourse to tell a criminal justice professional. A quarter (24.5%) of women who had experienced partner abuse in the previous 12 months had told none of the listed people or services. This is compared to 40% of women who had experienced forced sexual intercourse and indicates that women who have experienced partner abuse are more likely to disclose this information than those women who have experienced forced sexual intercourse.
% of women having experienced partner abuse in the past 12 months and have told… 2016-18
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result.
Data for this indicator comes from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS). Specifically it is drawn from the self-completion element of the survey. The sample size for this element was 4,888 (89% of respondents to the main survey) in 2017/18, and 5,153 (92% of respondents to the main survey) in 2016/17.
The questionnaire is completed by respondents on the interviewer’s tablet PC (Computer Assisted Self-completion Interviewing -CASI). This ensures confidentiality when answering sensitive questions or those on illicit behaviour.
Data completed within the self-completion element of the SCJS in 2016/17 and 2017/18 has been collated to increase the sample size, and is published biennially. The 2017/18 SCJS publication contains combined 2016/17 and 2017/18 self-completion data.
The sample for this indicator is made up of 115 women who had experienced at least one type of partner abuse (psychological or physical) in the last 12 months.
The groupings for this indicator are as follows:
Individual: friends; relatives; neighbours; someone at work
Health: doctor; health visitor or nurse; midwife
Mental Health: counsellor/therapist; mental health/addiction service
Support services: Women’s Aid group; Victim Support Scotland; Scottish Domestic Abuse helpline; Rape Crisis helpline; Men’s Advice Line
Social services: social services, housing department, benefit agency
Criminal justice: police; legal professional
Other: any other helpline; other group or organisation; someone else
Femicide refers to the intentional murder of women because they are women. Measuring the extent of femicide is inherently difficult and relies on the existence of data deriving from detailed and reliable records that identify characteristics of the victim and the perpetrator, the relationship between the two, and their environment, motivations and patterns of behaviour, among other factors.
A large proportion of femicide involves women in violent relationships, and is committed by current or former partners according to WHO. Such incidences can be captured partially through national administrative data on intentional homicide of women by an intimate partner or by family members. In this case the working group has concluded that it is appropriate to use administrative data that measures the number of women who were victims of homicides carried out by a partner/ex-partner. This is considered an adequate proxy, but it is worth noting that there is potential for this data to include cases where the motive is different (i.e. murder not specifically because of a woman’s gender) and that there is also potential for this data to exclude cases of femicide which are committed by persons other than partners and ex-partners.
When considering rates of femicide in Scotland, it is worth consulting the EIGE Gender Equality Index, which treats Scotland separately from England and Wales with regard to this indicator and ranks Scotland as having the 7th lowest rate of femicide out of the 17 EU member states considered (as of 2016).
The chart below demonstrates that in the 10 years from 2009-10 to 2018-19 74 women were victims of homicides carried out by a partner/ex-partner. Numbers have been relatively stable with a high of 12 homicides in 2010-11 and lows of 4 homicides in each of 2015-16 and 2016-17. With 9 women being the victims of homicides carried out by a partner/ex-partner in 2018-19, this figure is higher than the mean number for the past 10 years (7.4).
Number of women who were victims of homicides carried out by a partner/ex-partner 2009-10 to 2018-19
Equally Safe recognises that in some minority ethnic communities traditional gender roles can be stronger and cultural practices involving violence, such as forced marriage, more prevalent. In addition, disabled women and girls are more at risk of exploitation and coercion and may be being cared for by an abuser. Older women may be either caring for, or being cared for by, their abuser.
Equally Safe recognises that lesbian, bisexual and transgender women experience violence and abuse which targets their sexual orientation, gender identity or both; homophobia, biphobia and transphobia can drive (or be used as components of) abuse by perpetrators.
Equally Safe recognises that young women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in relation to young men, and report much greater negative impacts as a result.
The data for this indicator comes from the Homicide in Scotland 2018-2019 statistical bulletin. These statistics are based on a snapshot of Police Scotland’s homicide database at an agreed date.
The Homicide in Scotland statistical bulletin forms part of a series of bulletins produced by the Scottish Government on the criminal justice system.
This sub-domain measures women’s perceptions of safety in their local area. It utilises the SCJS, where respondents were asked how safe they felt when walking alone in their local area after dark. In this sub-domain, unlike the others in this domain, the goal is to achieve gender parity between men and women; specifically, that 100% of both genders will feel completely safe in their local areas.
This sub-domain measures women’s perceptions of safety and fears about crime in their local area. It utilises the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), where respondents were asked how safe they felt when walking alone in their local area after dark.
Women have consistently felt less safe than men over the last 10 years, and in 2017/18, two thirds (66%) of women stated that they felt safe walking alone in their local area after dark compared to almost nine tenths (89%) of men. Nonetheless, over the last 10 years the trend for both sexes has been to feel more safe over time -55% of women and 79% of men felt safe walking alone in the local area after dark in 2008/09, a change of 11 and 10 percentage points respectively.
% of adults who felt safe walking alone in the local area after dark, by gender 2008/09 to 2017/18
SCJS 2017/18 found that those living in the 15% most deprived areas of Scotland, older adults, and victims of crime were less likely to report feeling safe in 2017/18 than comparator groups.
Data for this indicator is drawn from the interviewer-led section of the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS), as opposed to the self-completion section. This element was completed using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). Rather than combining the 2016/17 and 2017/18 SCJS data this indicator focuses solely on the 2017/18 SCJS data. The sample size for the 2017/18 survey was 5,537.
In 2017, the Scottish Government carried out an initial exploratory piece of work with a view to developing a new Gender Equality Index, and produced a working paper which describes the process that it followed at that time. This considered whether or not Scotland should replicate an already internationally-established Index, produced by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). However, this exploratory work found that data limitations made full replication of this index unworkable.
A process of consultation with external stakeholders was conducted, and a Scottish Government-led working group with prominent women’s organisations and academics was set up to advise on the development of a Gender Equality Index. The working group comprised of Scottish Government analysts with expertise on the available data sources, and stakeholders providing expertise on gender inequality across each of the domains.
To best meet user needs, we decided to build a new bespoke index that uses some of the features of the EIGE index, but with a more Scotland appropriate selection of indicators. This new Index would be designed to set a baseline and monitor change at Scotland level through time.
This publication presents baseline data for this set of indicators. As this is a first release we acknowledge that it may not be perfect and there will be some scope for the indicator set to evolve, however it should be noted that any change to the indicator set may affect the Index’s primary purpose which is to measure Scotland’s progress through time towards gender equality.
It was considered whether or not it would be possible to use the new index to compare Scotland to other countries across Europe. However, the existing data available for Scotland would have limited the comparability with European data sources. Instead, we have developed a Scotland-specific set of indicators that better reflect the Scottish context, and will allow gender equality in Scotland to be monitored over time.
The intended audience for this Index is broad and includes the public, the media and policy makers who aren’t data experts but have an interest or a role in advancing gender equality. The Scottish Government publishes sex and gender-disaggregated breakdowns in many of its statistical publications and tools such as the Equality Evidence Finder help users to locate these. However, it can be difficult for policy makers to easily access an up-to-date picture which encompasses the many facets of gender equality. It is hoped that this new Scottish Gender Equality Index will help fill this gap.
It is expected that Scotland’s index will be updated in full every three years. Although some of the data are routinely collected and updated annually e.g. much of the work domain, other parts of the index require specially commissioned work. Time use data is expensive to collect and hence is only gathered periodically by the ONS - to gain robust data for Scotland, an additional sample boost has to be commissioned. Some of the ‘money’ indicators were collected through a bespoke Scottish Social Attitudes survey module, and the ‘power’ domain predominantly relies on research which would require recommissioning for each update. In other areas, e.g. the gender pay gap, annual variability means that it is often more prudent to look back longer than a year to get a sense of the overall trend.
Composite Indexes and Measurement frameworks have value because they bring together a range of indicators, and by comparing them across places and over time this will help a wider audience to judge whether progress is being made and where key challenges remain. This new Gender Equality Index will also hopefully help this audience to understand that in order to successfully tackle gendered issues, such as the gender pay gap, action needs to be taken in many different domains and at different stages of women and men’s lifetimes. It was decided by experts at an initial workshop that an ‘Index’ would be preferable to a ‘Measurement Framework’ due to greater simplicity of its messaging and presentation. However, it was noted that care would have to be taken to ensure that users do not make direct comparisons between the Scottish Index and the EIGE Index. It was also agreed that the Scottish Government should host the final publication.
From the beginning, it was envisaged that this first attempt will be primarily a learning experience and that it was likely that we would need to work on this for a number of years before we had a robust complete index for Scotland.
Whilst we have used a different basket of indicators, the index is structured and derived in a similar way to the EIGE index.
The index comprises of six core domains. Each domain in turn comprises of two or three sub-domains. Finally, each subdomain contains 2-4 indicators.
Each indicator is given a gender equality score of between one (complete inequality between women and men) and 100 (complete equality). These indicators are aggregated into a sub-domain gender equality score, which are in turn aggregated into domain and overall index equality scores.
There are also a number of additional indicators in “satellite” domains not included in the main index, where comparing women and men isn’t meaningful (women-specific healthcare), or where the goal is eradication rather than equal rates for women and men (violence against women).
The steps involved in calculating the index are: -
Indicators were selected based on the criteria:
A similar number of indicators have been included within each domain. This publication is using 2018 as the base year, as 2018 data was available for most indicators. Where this wasn’t possible, the closest available year was used. The indicator scores calculated from this data are considered to be ‘2020’ gender index scores. The indicators use ‘official statistics’ unless otherwise specified in the methodology. For some indicators, newer data is available and can be found on the Equality Evidence Finder and in the source publications.
Indicator data is transformed so that it is on a consistent scale, allowing different gender equality scores to be compared.
The calculation used by EIGE involves: -
\[1+99\left(1- \left| \frac{women}{\frac{1}{2}(women+men)} - 1\right|\right)\]
Gender equality scores measure the relative gap between women and men, with higher scores given where the relative difference is small compared to the overall value. A percentage point difference between women and men will give a different score depending on the mid-point value. This means that indicators will give different equality scores, depending on the direction of the scale.
For consistency, all indicators scores are calculated based on the high values representing the desirable outcome. For some indicators such as underemployment, this requires reversing the direction of the scale (i.e. using “% of adults not underemployed”) as not being underemployed is the desirable outcome of the indicator.
The proportion of women with two or more risk behaviours in 2018 was 27% and the proportion of men was 30%.
For this indicator, the more healthy option corresponds to lower percentages. So we first reverse the direction of the scale to give the proportion of adults with one or fewer health risk behaviours (women: 73; men: 70).
We then compare the women’s value (73) to the mid-point between the women’s and men’s value \(\frac{1}{2}(73+70)=71.5\) to give a gender equality score of \[1+99\left(1- \left| \frac{73}{71.5} - 1\right|\right) = 1+99\left(1-0.02\right)=98\]
The approach used for aggregating indicators is similar to that of the EIGE index. Arithmetic and geometric means are different methods for calculating averages. The arithmetic mean is the standard way to calculate an average, and was used when aggregating indicators into sub-domains. The geometric mean is an alternative method in which high scores balance out low scores to a lesser extent than with the arithmetic mean. This means that a low sub-domain score will bring down the domain score by a greater amount.
An analytic hierarchy process approach was used to derive domain weightings, with members of the working group informing the final weightings to reflect the priorities in Scotland. Members of the working group were asked to rate the relative importance of the 15 pairs of domains (e.g. is work more/less important than money?; work vs time).
The domain weights used are:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Time Use | 27 |
| Work | 21 |
| Power | 19 |
| Money | 18 |
| Knowledge | 8 |
| Health | 7 |
The Scottish Government acknowledges and thanks the expert working group who advised it on the development of the index over a two year period. The group was comprised of colleagues from the following organisations:
Close the Gap
EHRC Scotland
Engender
Equate
WiSE
Women’s Enterprise Scotland
These colleagues provided a great deal of experience and a breadth of expertise and we are very grateful for their contribution. We do however recognise that this is not a complete and exhaustive list of women’s organisations across Scotland.
We would also like to thank all the Scottish Government lead analysts who contributed to the project.
This report was produced by the Equality Analysis team at the Scottish Government.
Official and National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Both undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs and are produced free from any political interference.
For enquiries or feedback about this publication please contact:
Communities Analysis Division
Telephone: 0131 244 5851
e-mail: social-justice-analysis@gov.scot
For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
Telephone: 0131 244 0442
e-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
The data collected for this statistical bulletin may be made available on request, subject to consideration of legal and ethical factors. Please contact social-justice-analysis@gov.scot for further information.
If you are not satisfied with our service or have any comments or suggestions, please write to the Chief Statistician:
3WR St Andrews House
Edinburgh, EH1 3DG
Telephone: (0131) 244 0302
e-mail statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
If you would like to be consulted about statistical collections or receive notification of publications, please register your interest at www.gov.scot/scotstat
Details of forthcoming publications can be found at www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs
You may use or re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. See: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/
Social/Leisure Activities
Social and leisure activities are important for maintaining physical and mental health. Participation in outdoor and physical activities predicts physical health, while home-centred and social activity participation can be good for mental health.
The indicator of social/leisure activities is made up of leisure activities which have a social element. Examples include: spending time with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues; telephoning, texting, emailing or writing letters to friends and family; playing team sports, and playing other sports and exercising, including hiking. This activity category also includes cultural activities: such as visits to the cinema, theatre, concerts, sporting events, museums, galleries and the library, and health and wellbeing activities including meditating, having a massage and spa or well-being treatments. It’s worth noting that as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown and subsequent restrictions a number of these activities were not possible, particularly face-to-face socialising with members outside of a person’s household (during lockdown) and cultural activities, such as attending the theatre, concerts and sporting events. This is therefore likely to have impacted on the data presented here.
In 2020, women spent more time on social/leisure activities than men - an average of 86 minutes per day, compared to 51 minutes for men.
In 2020, Scotland’s score on this indicator is 75. It should be noted that difference here is caused by the fact that women spent more time on social/leisure activities than men. However, it is not the case that men have less free-time than women overall, but rather that they spent more time on ‘other activities’. These are activities which have less of a social element, such as watching TV or browsing the internet. See OTUS 2020 for more details.
Chart
Average minutes per day spent on leisure/social activities as a main activity, by gender 2020
Source: Time Use in Scotland 2020
Intersectionality
Information on how gender intersected with other population characteristics in the 2020 OTUS will be available in 2021.
Existing data on intersectionality can be found in the 2014/15 Time Use Survey.
Methodology
This indicator measures the average minutes per day spent on leisure/social activities as a main activity. The reference population was all adults (18+). The gender equality score was calculated by comparing the value for women with the mid-point of men and women. See the Methodology chapter for further details.
The 2020 OTUS took place during two waves, the first running from 28 March to 26 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and the second from 5 September to 11 October, during the restrictions that followed the lockdown. Given this context, future comparisons with the 2020 OTUS must be carried out in the knowledge that any changes in time use patterns might be due to these extraordinary circumstances, rather than change in societal trends.
This Scottish sample was made up of 556 people, and 917 diary days. 317 participants were women (a total of 520 diary days) and 239 were men (397 diary days). Data was weighted in order to correct for differences in sample size between men and women, and to ensure it reflects the profile of the Scottish population.
The 2020 OTUS gathered information using pre-coded time use diaries - participants recorded their activities at 10 minute intervals in time use diaries provided by the researchers. They were asked to provide completed diaries on two randomly allocated days which included, by design, one weekday and one weekend day. Diary entries were then recorded by the participants online where possible, or were contacted over the phone by interviewers who recorded diary information on participants’ behalf.
Time is reported in average minutes per day. Average time use depends on two factors: the number of people participating in an activity on a given day and the amount of time spent participating in that activity. These factors are combined to give a figure for average time use for the population group. The total sample population is used to calculate the average time spent on social/leisure activities.
It should be noted that this indicator is based on ‘experimental official statistics’.