Race Inequality in the Workforce: Analysing the state of play in the coronavirus economy
The impact of Covid-19 on the labour market has affected specific groups of workers more than others, including those with an ethnic minority background. In this new report, we explore evidence that shows the specific impact that the pandemic has had on Black and ethnic minority workers, demonstrating the ways in which they face a range of additional risks during the economic downturn, in terms of both loss of employment and poorer quality work.
The report makes 11 recommendations for government and employers to ensure that job quality is protected for all and that groups at particular risk are safeguarded.
This short report complements our Good Work for Wellbeing in the Coronavirus Economy report which was launched last month. It seeks to understand how we can ensure the best possible jobs recovery and achieve good work for all in the coronavirus economy.
You can read Race Inequality in the Workforce: Analysing the state of play in the coronavirus economy here.
You can read Good Work for Wellbeing in the Coronavirus Economy here.
Join the conversation on Twitter @CarnegieUKTrust or please feel free to get in touch via Georgina Bowyer, Policy and Development Officer (georgina@carnegieuk.org).
I hope this email finds you safe and well in these difficult times.
I am pleased to share new research from the Carnegie UK Trust, looking at how we can achieve ‘good work’ for all in the UK coronavirus economy.
The coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted jobs and livelihoods, but it has also seen labour market interventions that were previously unimaginable and given rise to calls to build back a better labour market. For our research we interviewed labour market experts including academics, business and trade union representatives and leading think tanks, and undertook analysis of the impacts of the crisis on different groups of workers.
Our report Good Work for Wellbeing in the Coronavirus Economy draws together these insights and presents a package of over 30 proposals for how good work can be achieved and sustained, to ensure work improves wellbeing for many more people.
You can read the report’s key messages and recommendations here
We would be delighted to hear your views on the ideas put forward in the report. You can get in touch with us on Twitter @CarnegieUKTrust, using the hashtag #GoodWork #COVID19 or you can let us know your thoughts by emailing Gail Irvine, Senior Policy and Development Officer, on gail.irvine@carnegieuk.org.
Young people are being reduced to meeting under gazebos and tarpaulins to access vital local services as a new survey reveals a lack of facilities threatens to keep youth work out in the cold this winter.
YouthLink Scotland, Scotland’s National Youth Work Agency, released the latest results of a two-month survey of the youth work sector’s access to facilities, which painted a picture of youth work organisations up and down the country struggling to find appropriate indoor spaces due to confusion over lockdown restrictions.
It has now issued a call for national and local leadership to help the sector overcome the barriers to youth work resuming, with YouthLink CEO Tim Frew warning that a lack of access to facilities threatens to leave young people in Scotland without vital support.
The calls are backed by Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner and See Me, the national mental health charity.
The results show an extremely concerning situation for young people involved in youth work, in particular vulnerable youngsters who rely on that support.
While some youth work organisations had previously been able to offer limited services in public spaces such as cafés, youth workers voiced concerns that even this offers little privacy for vulnerable young people who need intensive support.
Lack of access to appropriate facilities has left many youth work organisations unable to return to face-to-face indoor youth work. Over 50% of council youth work services have not been able to resume, and this rises to over 80% for national voluntary organisations like Scouts, and local voluntary youth work projects across the country.
The survey also revealed that over three-quarters of youth work organisations still have no access to any school facilities, while around 95% remain locked out of local leisure centre facilities.
This is despite Scottish Government guidance enabling indoor face-to-face youth work to resume from 31st August.
The agency says it is not acceptable to leave many vulnerable young people without access to vital support at a time when youth work is needed more than ever, as we face an increasing youth mental health crisis as a result of the ongoing pandemic.
The situation has meant that youth workers are having to deliver services in parks, school grounds, on the streets, using tents, gazebos and tarpaulins for shelter as it gets colder.
It’s clear that although youth work organisations have the necessary risk assessments for practice in place, access to buildings and facilities is still being restricted or denied. Guidance is being interpreted differently in local areas.
Commenting on the findings of the latest survey, Tim Frew, CEO, YouthLink Scotland, the national agency for youth work, said: “We need to move forward and ensure that access to facilities for youth work increases.
“From our survey we can see that almost all youth organisations responsible for facilities have completed risk assessments. Detailed guidance for school facilities and for outdoor centres has been developed.
“For centres where youth work is the tenant and not the landlord we need to understand what the barriers are to their re-opening.
“If the issue is guidance from the Scottish Government on the use of Community Centres, we know that this is in development and is needed urgently. If the issue is more about the cost then we need to ensure that extra funds are found, as we cannot allow for young people to be prevented from accessing youth work when they need it now more an ever.”
Gina Wilson, Head of Strategy for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner said: “Youth workers play a significant role in ensuring children and young people can access their rights to good mental and physical health as well as their educational, social and recreational rights.
“The pandemic has highlighted and further entrenched existing inequalities and providing vital youth work services over the coming winter months and beyond must be a priority to ensure children and young people’s rights are protected and promoted.”
Wendy Halliday, director of mental health charity, See Me said: “At See Me, youth work has been vital in allowing us to tackle the stigma and discrimination that young people can face when they’re struggling with their mental health.
“Youth work provides a platform for young people to speak out about mental health to other young people and to the adults in their lives, while also getting help and support for themselves.
“Through this pandemic more young people than ever are struggling with their mental health and to help those young people it is essential that youth work can resume in a safe way. We know that youth work is key to reaching and engaging young people that can be missed by other services and forms of support, while also connecting young people who can feel alone and isolated.”
Councillor Stephen McCabe, Cosla’s children and young people spokesman, said: “Sadly there is no denying that these are difficult times and we are dealing with an issue the likes of which we have never seen before.
“Councils have an extremely difficult balancing act between supporting local services, their responsibilities as employers and adhering to local restrictions, however, above all else the health and safety of everyone remains our number one priority.
“The best way to get through this is by a collective push and working in partnership both locally and nationally.
“That is what we are committed to continuing to do and why we would be happy to work with YouthLink, Scottish Government and others to find solutions.
“The seriousness of this situation, the speed at which things can change and the pressure on councils are all very real.“
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We recognise the valuable role that the youth work sector has to play in supporting the health and wellbeing of young people in Scotland.
“We are investing £3 million through the Youth Work Education Recovery Fund to ensure youth work services are supported to deliver vital interventions to young people across Scotland.
“Community centre opening guidance is being developed with input from a number of key stakeholders, including YouthLink Scotland.
“Local authorities have responsibility for their buildings, including community centres, and make decisions over what activities can take place in them.”
COMMENTS FROM SURVEY RESPONDENTS:
“Safe and supportive conversations with young people on their own who are grieving, and exploring coping strategies, need to be carried out in a safe, nurturing space and not in the public domain of outdoor pitches or fast-food eateries.”
“Blanket bans on lets for Council-owned properties such as school lets but also some community halls. Groups are responding by only meeting outside or online but this issue will grow as we approach colder and darker evenings after October half term.”
“Outdoor group work has been possible, but with reduced light and poor climate, it is challenging. Youth workers are seeking spaces in coffee shops, supermarkets, and car parks to be able to have shelter/conversations with young people for support and meetings on projects. The digital challenges continue and return to face-to-face is what young people are requesting.”
“Unfortunately we are not providing any youth work at the moment (indoors or outdoors) as we do not have access to any spaces that are classed as safe. The restrictions mean that we can’t host the number of young people we used to and as such the service is struggling to organise youth work opportunities for young people in our area.”
“We remain frustrated at not being able to use our youth centres for indoor youth work. Our local Recovery Group initially granted us access to resume indoor youth groups but have since withdrawn that permission. We are unable to operate school-based youth groups as we don’t have access to school lets in the evening and after school. Only school groups are using our youth centre on a few hours per day.”
“I feel that fear has caused a blanket ban on all group meetings instead of allowing choice and thinking about the needs and capabilities of different groups. All our local Girlguiding units are affected in the same way as we all meet in a hall or community centre.”
“Barriers accessing schools to provide informal learning. Community centres still not opened and youth centres the same. All of our work is still digital. Real want from youth workers to get back to work but no physical spaces to do this.”
“Our group has to rehearse outside in the back playground of our usual venue. The back of the hub is covered in glass from broken alcohol bottles and is clearly a ‘den’ for some. We have to sweep the ground every week and risk assess to ensure the area is safe. There is no sufficient lighting, which is going to pose a major problem when the darker night come in! The area is an old school shed that is no longer in use – there is an old couch and rubbish dumped and it smells of urine! The young people I work with are happy to be together again but it poses a challenge – drama is an activity that requires a space that is safe for them to explore ideas and develop confidence.”
Families’ needs are escalating while support services are diminishing, new research reveals
Children’s charities call on Scottish Government to invest in family support without delay
Years of austerity have had a harrowing impact on vulnerable families in Scotland with some now facing destitution, reveals NSPCC Scotland and Barnardo’s Scotland research published today.
The report, Challenges from the Frontline – Revisited, highlights the devastating impact of the rollout of welfare reform on children and their families and the effects of local government funding cuts on the support available to them.
The research, a snapshot of life before Covid-19, describes rising need in the face of lessening resource, with some families struggling to obtain adequate food, secure housing and basic necessities. Despite long-standing commitment by the Scottish Government to early intervention and parenting support, the research found that too many families were coming to services already at crisis point.
Service managers told researchers that welfare reform had financially punished a whole section of the population.
One said: “…because so many of our families are on universal credit, that does not allow them to have a standard of living that meets the needs of those adults and children within the household. It simply does not.”
Another said: “It’s the poverty and disadvantage that we see now. It was always there, but it’s certainly exacerbated by the welfare reform over the past few years. The rise of foodbanks here is massive. Families use them on a regular basis and you can see that, families who come to us and are really struggling.”
NSPCC Scotland and Barnardo’s Scotland are now calling on the Scottish Government to press ahead, as a matter of urgency, with the Independent Care Review’s vision of making intensive family support available to all who need it.
The review’s Promise report sets out a blueprint of how this should be done.
The children’s charities also say the Scottish Government must articulate a clear vision for family income in Scotland, and set out how – within the current levers available – it will ensure that all families have enough money to live with dignity.
Today’s report compares findings from research carried out with family support services in Scotland in 2013 and 2019. It concludes that in the intervening period severe hardship has affected parents’ mental health and family relationships, so that those now being referred have more complex difficulties and greater needs.
This is amid a landscape of local authorities and other public bodies continuing to face financial challenges. The research found evidence of family support services closing or being offered on a far more limited basis than had been the case in 2013.
Matt Forde, NSPCC Scotland head of service, said: “Our research reveals that families were facing destitution, isolation and mental health struggles before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
“We found that against a backdrop of years of austerity there was escalating need for help from families who were struggling with more complex problems, being met with less support than before.
“We know that adverse and traumatic experiences in childhood can have a profound impact on a person’s life.
“And it is crucial this unacceptable situation, now compounded by the Covid-19 crisis, is addressed with a matter of urgency.”
Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “Supporting vulnerable families mitigates social inequality and improves children’s life opportunities.
“The Coronavirus crisis provides a huge opportunity to make meaningful, sustainable, transformative change. We need to harness the desire to do things differently, to reach out to families with a strengthened social safety net to prevent longer term difficulties developing in young people’s lives.
“The Independent Care Review’s Promise has given us a blueprint for family support and we must deliver on this without delay.”
– 72% of people responding to a survey about their experiences of the Scottish Government and COSLA’s 10 year Strategy for Autism reported that they did not have enough support to meet their needs –
The findings are published in today’s ‘The Accountability Gap’, a report from the Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Autism’s review of the Scottish Government and COSLA’s 10-year Strategy for Autism.
Supported by charities National Autistic Society Scotland and Scottish Autism, who provide Joint-Secretariat to the CPG, a survey carried out as part of the review also found that:
72% of respondents said they did not have enough support to meet their needs
78% of respondents said that it was not easy accessing support locally
50% felt that autism awareness among the general public had not improved
69% said that with more support they would feel less isolated
36% said they received no support within 12 months of receiving a diagnosis.
The CPG on Autism is Co-Convened by Annie Wells MSP and Alexander Burnett MSP, and has a large membership that comprises of MSPs, autistic people, families, organisations and professionals from across Scotland. The group meets regularly looking at issues faced by autistic people and families.
In 2011, the Scottish Government together with COSLA published a 10-year Scottish Strategy for Autism that set out priorities and aimed to deliver strategic action for autistic people and their families in Scotland.
The CPG on Autism undertook its review from May 2019 to January 2020 and heard first-hand the difficulties faced by autistic people and their families in Scotland. It found widespread recognition that the Government’s strategy set out a welcome vision and was well-intentioned however the majority of people who participated said there had been limited impact for many people in a number of areas including autism diagnosis and post-diagnostic support, as well as support in education, care and employment.
It also highlighted how a lack of accountability at local level, is leaving autistic people and families fighting, often with little success, to get the support they need.
The review makes 10 recommendations that aim to help improve the lives of autistic people that the Scottish Government and COSLA should consider when the Strategy comes to the end of its lifespan in 2021. These include:
Solving the accountability gap by establishing a new Commissioner role, whose remit includes ensuing that autistic people and families get the support they need.
Developing a new Scottish Strategy for Autism that is co-created between autistic people, families, charities, COSLA and the Government, is appropriately funded and delivers real sustainable change.
Co-Convener of the Cross-Party Group on Autism, Alexander Burnett MSP, said:“The majority view of the hundreds of people who have been involved in our review is that the ambition and aspiration set out in the Scottish Government’s strategy has not been realised in practice and that many autistic people and their families lack the appropriate levels of support in order to thrive in our society.
“We found that there are concerns surrounding a lack of training for professionals, as well as a lack of pre and post diagnosis support across a number of areas 2including social care, education, transition into adulthood, housing and employment.
“In the context of the pandemic we believe the report’s recommendations are more important than ever for Scottish Government, COSLA and partners to consider when planning for what comes next when the strategy is due to come to an end next year.
“Over the years, we have seen numerous reports and reviews on autism, however there seems to be little evidence to suggest any real change is being delivered at a local level.
“This is a system that is repeatedly failing to meet the rights and needs of autistic people. We must therefore focus on systemic sustainable change to enable better access to education, health, social and community services for autistic people and their families.”
Kirsteen, a mother from Aberdeen said:“I have an autistic son called Toby who is now a young adult. When Toby was younger he received support from the school, college and the local authority but virtually stopped overnight when he became 16.
“Toby needs a lot of support and without it we struggled to cope as a family. Ultimately, we reached crisis point and things escalated even to the extent the police got involved as he became very frustrated and lashed out.
“Toby is now living in his own flat which initially I had to pay for as the local authority did not provide anything that met his needs. They had offered a place in a hostel for people with drug issues which is completely inappropriate.
“I’m now selling my place so I can move closer to Toby as I desperately want to make sure he is supported. I do this because my son and daughters mean the world to me but it’s hugely stressful to hold down a full-time career in nursing and provide support for someone with such complex needs.
“I don’t feel things have got better over the last few years and I don’t think they will change unless Scotland implements legislation – committees and reviews on autism make no difference.”
Nick Ward, Director of National Autistic Society Scotland, said: “Today’s ‘Accountability Gap’ report from the Cross-Party Group paints a stark picture of the struggles that Scotland’s 56,000 autistic people and their families face in order to get the services they are entitled to – a struggle which sadly they often lose leaving them frustrated, distraught and often in crisis.
“The Government must now look to build on the 10-year strategy by building accountability into the system so people get the services and support they so desperately need.”
Charlene Tait, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Scottish Autism, said: “We recognise the Scottish Government’s commitment through its 10-year strategy to set out a landscape where autistic people and their families have access to the services and support they need.
“However, there is an evident ‘accountability gap’ between service provision and what is available. The reality is that many autistic people and their families often have to fight to get the vital services and support to which they are entitled.
“Over the years, we have seen numerous reports and reviews on autism, however there seems to be little evidence to suggest any real change is being delivered at a local level. This is a system that is repeatedly failing to meet the rights and needs of autistic people.
“We must therefore focus on systemic sustainable change to enable better access to education, health, social and community services for autistic people and their families.”
MSPs on Holyrood’s Justice Committee have called for a ‘basket of measures’ to help clear the backlog in Scotland’s courts exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging that some of these may be unpalatable, but necessary.
Members of the Committee have been looking at the impact of Covid-19 on the justice system, with delays caused by the halting of most criminal court business during the height of the pandemic one of the most concerning issues.
The Committee heard that while delays to criminal cases was a problem before the pandemic, just to get back to that level of backlog would take eight to 10 years if nothing is done to increase or speed up court business.
While the Scottish Government and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service have taken forward some proposals, such as setting up ‘remote jury centres’ in cinemas to allow juries to socially distance while participating in trials, the Committee is calling for:
– The Scottish Government to urgently convene a round-table discussion with representatives of affected groups to discuss and agree a way forward for both criminal and civil systems;
– For these discussions to include proposals for more remote jury centres; remote jury empanelling; and more digital technology – for example recording evidence from specialist witnesses;
– For consideration to be given in these discussions to sentence discounts for early pleas; and, in the short-term, extended court sitting hours;
– The Cabinet Secretary for Justice to ensure that sufficient funding is in place to resource and staff any changes without adverse or unforeseen consequences.
This would follow on from a previous roundtable held in April 2020 which agreed interim measures for court business.
At that meeting, some options previously considered, such as trials without juries, were discounted by those present. This is a conclusion the Committee agreed is beyond the pale, as it would be too fundamental a change to make to Scotland’s justice system.
Speaking as the report was launched, Justice Committee Convener, Adam Tomkins MSP, said:“The scale of the challenge faced by our courts is not to be underestimated.
“Current delays are not acceptable for the victims, witnesses or the accused of crimes.
“While that point may not be controversial, we need to ensure changes to improve the situation, whether long or short-term, have the widest possible backing.
“To that end, we want the Scottish Government to convene a meeting of all interested parties to agree a way forward. Time is of the essence.
“By following the collaborative approach taken in the early days of the pandemic, and by being open and transparent with thinking, we can have a grown-up conversation about the pros and cons of the options available.
“The Committee hopes that this would help those responsible for the day-to-day operation of the courts and those responsible for the system to coalesce around a common way forward and agree upon necessary actions.
“Although the problems are at their worst in the criminal courts, there is still a mismatch in our civil courts, which are largely functioning, and other services linked to them, such as family contact centres, which are at best partially open.”
A new report sets out how we must focus on reducing our dependence on single-use items and highlights the impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on people’s behaviour, with new single-use items becoming part of everyday life.
It proposes five principles that can be used to consider how single-use items like cups, cutlery and sauce sachets can be reduced or replaced with alternatives to help combat waste and support Scotland’s journey to net zero.
It’s the second report to be published by a panel of experts tasked by the Scottish Government with advising how we can reduce our reliance on single-use items. Their first report, on disposable beverage cups, recommended a charge should be introduced.
The panel’s second suite of advice is intended to provide long-term support to decision making on reducing or removing single-use items from circulation, focusing attention on current problem items but also offering the framework of principles to help assess action when new single-use items become prevalent.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “We were making substantial progress against single-use plastics before the Coronavirus pandemic and await evidence about the extent to which it has changed public attitudes and consumption of plastics and other single-use items.
“What is clear is that we must learn from our experience of lockdown – how we work, how we travel, how we live – and apply this to our approach to becoming a net-zero society.
“As this report points out, a thriving circular economy will play a critical role in ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change, and we must all – government, businesses, industry and individuals – be a part of driving this.
“I welcome this report, which will support our continuing journey to net zero and am grateful to the panel for the considered and expert advice they have provided .”
Chair of the Expert Panel on Environmental Charges and Other Measures Dame Sue Bruce said: “I hope that the Five Principles for Tackling Single-use Items will be useful to policy makers and organisations who want to use this opportunity to develop greener ways of working as they prepare for the “new normal” by considering how they can reduce dependence on single-use items and to focus on being part of the green recovery.
“There has never been a better time to take steps to reduce environmental harm arising from our everyday habits. This must continue to be a priority for us all if we are to achieve the goal of being a net-zero society by 2045.”
Marie Curie and the University of Glasgow are calling for action to improve the care and experience of dying people in hospitals.
Following a series of seminars with leading experts undertaken before the coronavirus pandemic, the organisations found that despite examples of good care, many hospitals are still not identifying enough patients who could benefit from palliative care, and who are unfairly missing out on the right care at the end of life. With hospital services under pressure due to coronavirus this situation is likely to have worsened over the last six months.
With the Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for Action running to 2021, Marie Curie and the University of Glasgow have offered 12 themed recommendations for consideration by the next Scottish Government, NHS Boards and Integration Authorities.
Maria McGill former CHAS Chief Executive supports the recommendations as her father was cared for in hospital prior to dying at home from heart failure and did not receive any palliative care.
She shares: “Dad was admitted to hospital through the emergency department via 999 ambulance twice in 10 months. There were missed opportunities. Had conversations been started with him, and importantly including mum and me, instead of the rush to discharge him two weeks later, the second admission might have been avoided and they would have both been in a better position to understand what was happening to dad.
“Early discharge planning and engagement with community services is key, but those conversations should involve the family. Our experience was that dad was told he was being discharged and we weren’t involved in the discussion.
“Staff in all settings having the ability to listen, really listen, and I really do understand that for some staff this might cause them anxiety about what they might hear, that they might not know what to do, or have the time to do anything. However, it is so important this opportunity isn’t missed. Even during that second admission 8 weeks before dad died – there wasn’t a recognition of dad’s deterioration.”
Marie Curie and the University of Glasgow are also calling for the Scottish Government to set aside £15 million for a nationwide Change and Innovation Fund to test new models of integrated care involving acute settings. This could help ensure patients get better care, but also improve efficiencies in care across community and hospital settings.
Marie Curie Head of Policy and Public Affairs Scotland Richard Meade said: “Hospitals are absolutely the right place for some dying people to be, but we need definitive action to ensure people get the care they need when in a hospital. More and more people are likely to present with multi-morbidity and complex needs and by 2040 it is expected that up to 31,000 people could be dying in a Scottish hospital.
“While it’s clear that there are some excellent examples of care across Scottish hospitals, we found a worrying level of inconsistency and gaps in care. It’s particularly concerning that knowledge of palliative care among healthcare professionals was patchy with some not understanding that it can be provided alongside curative treatments.”
Professor David Clark and Welcome Trust investigator at the University of Glasgow said: “Over the last ten years our research has consistently shown that on any given day almost one third of patients in Scottish hospitals are in the last year of life and 10 percent will die on their current admission.
“We are not grasping the opportunity to identify these people and to have conversations about their end of life preferences. Covid-19 has revealed the shocking absence of advance care plans in many cases, making it even more difficult to give the right kind of care in pandemic conditions”.
The 12 recommendations from Marie Curie and the University of Glasgow are:
Scottish policy must actively support palliative care in acute settings and appoint clinical and executive leads in each NHS Board for palliative and end of life care.
Hospitals are supported to provide consistently high-quality care that improves patient outcomes and experience.
Everyone with a palliative care need should be identified if admitted to hospital or attending an outpatient appointment.
Hospitals should ensure they have joined-up working across multi-disciplinary teams and specialities to provide palliative and end of life care.
IT and technology must support patient centred care and enable those working with patients to have the most up-to-date information about that care and be able to provide appropriate input.
An increase in the number of palliative care consultants, doctors and specialist nurses.
Scotland should draw upon the power of volunteers to respond to the needs of communities and empower volunteers to support those with palliative needs and approaching the end of life in acute settings.
All acute staff should be given training to provide care and support for those living with a terminal condition, coming to the end of life and dying in hospitals, as well their families, friends and carers.
All hospital staff should have training and support in communication skills to support them in speaking with people with palliative care needs, and their families.
A review of the number of available specialist palliative care beds across Scotland is required.
Hospitals should also review the physical environment to ensure it is appropriate for dying people and their families.
There is a need for robust data and evidence on patient and carer experience, to allow greater scrutiny of care standards.
Community feeling remains strong in Scotland with more than three-quarters of adults (78% in 2019) reporting a very or fairly strong sense of belonging to their neighbourhood. This figure has remained at this level since 2012.
85% of adults agree they can rely on friends/relatives in their neighbourhood for support
90% of adults agree they would assist neighbours in an emergency
Most people feel safe in Scotland.
83% of adults feel very or fairly safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark – this figure remains similar to when the question was last asked in 2017. This figure varies depending on how people rate their neighbourhood. 61% of adults who rated their neighbourhood as a very poor place to live felt a bit or very unsafe walking alone after dark in their neighbourhood.
Satisfaction with housing is high.
Nine in ten households are very or fairly satisfied with their housing.
The proportion of younger households aged between 16 to 34 in owner occupation was 38% in 2019, an increase of approximately 50,000 since 2014.
Satisfaction with public services presents a mixed picture
Over seven out of ten adults (73%) were satisfied with schools and 68% with public transport in 2019, having increased from 71% and 65%, respectively, in 2018. Eight in ten adults (80%) were satisfied with local health services in 2019, a decrease from 81% in 2018. Satisfaction with local health services, schools and transport have decreased from peaks of 88%, 85% and 76%, respectively, in 2011.
Over half of all adults (53%) were satisfied with all three services in 2019, similar to the previous year but down from a peak of almost two-thirds (66%) in 2011.
There is increased internet access. The proportion of households with internet access was at a record high of 88% in 2019, with 97% of users accessing it at home. Internet use amongst older adults aged 60+ has since 2007 increased from 29% to 66%.
Most people can access satisfactory outdoor space such as parks, woods, rivers, coasts but people living in more deprived areas are less likely to live within a five minute walk. Most adults (66%) lived within a five minute walk of their nearest area of green or blue space in 2019, around the same proportion since 2016. A smaller proportion of adults in deprived areas lived within a five minute walk of their nearest green or blue space compared to adults in the least deprived areas (62% compared to 67%). 73% of adults were very or fairly satisfied with their nearest area of green or blue space.
The trend of declining religious belonging continued in 2019, with 56% of adults reporting that they did not belong to any religion. This coincided with a sharp decrease since 2009 in the proportion of people who report that they belong to the Church of Scotland, from 34% to 20% of adults.
The Scottish Household Survey also published all 2019 statistical data on the interactive dashboard Data Explorer, containing comparable SHS data from 1999 to 2019. For the first time the Data Explorer releases both national and local data on the same day.
The Scottish Household Survey has been designed to provide reliable and up-to-date information on the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviour of Scottish households and individuals since 1999.
NEW TUC REPORT identifies 600,000 existing public service vacancies and staff gaps that government could unlock quickly to cut jobless rate
The more people in work, the faster we will work our way out of recession, says TUC
A new TUC report has set out proposals for a public sector jobs drive to stave off mass unemployment and help the UK quickly recover from the Covid-19 recession.
The UK entered the Covid-19 crisis with our public services weakened by a decade of cuts. But public service workers gave their all to keep essential services going.
As we move out of the public health crisis, we are moving towards an economic crisis, with the Bank of England warning of mass unemployment with 2.5 million people out of work by the end of the year.
Creating decent jobs
The TUC’s report sets out a plan for public sector jobs to contribute to the fast employment growth the UK now needs.
It identifies the additional staff required across the public sector to fill vacancies, address shortfalls in provision and meet future need.
The union body is calling for government to urgently unlock the 600,000 jobs identified, including:
135,000 in health
220,000 in adult social care
110,000 in local government
80,000 in education
50,000 in civil service / public administration
Taken together with proposals published by the TUC in June to create 1.25 million jobs by fast-tracking green infrastructure investment, this plan could deliver a total of 1.85 million new jobs in the next two years.
Powering recovery
The TUC says that the government-led jobs drive would help support a stronger and faster private sector recovery too, with opportunities in supply chains and from the boost to spending power across the economy.
And it would help protect the Treasury from the revenue shortfall arising from the downside recovery scenario set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Under the OBR’s downside scenario, peak unemployment would be two million higher than for the upside scenario. TUC analysis of OBR data finds that the Treasury would lose out on £520bn in revenue over the next five years on the downside scenario relative to the upside.
The TUC says that the government must invest now to put the UK on the upside path – by preventing mass unemployment.
Otherwise the nation will suffer the high costs of mass unemployment, weak revenue and slow growth for many years ahead.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Working people carried the burden of the pandemic. They must not bear the brunt of the recession. The government must go all out to protect and create jobs and prevent the misery of mass unemployment.
“The more people we have in work, the faster the recovery will be. But ministers are sitting on their hands. It’s absurd to leave unfilled vacancies and unmet need in public services when unemployment is rising. Ministers should urgently provide the funding that will unlock existing public services vacancies and create good new jobs.
“Our plan to invest in good public services jobs will help workers avoid unemployment. It will strengthen the vital services that we all rely on. And it will get people out spending in local business and services. That’s how to drive the recovery forward.”
