Life in the UK 2023 Scotland

The Life in the UK index is designed to measure the collective wellbeing of the people of the UK, looking at social, economic, environmental, and democratic aspects of life.  This publication outlines Scotland’s scores for collective, social, economic, environmental and democratic wellbeing. The research is based on a representative survey of 6,941 people from across the UK, including 1,132 from Scotland.  It presents key findings in relation to how different demographics are living across Scotland.

• The collective wellbeing score for Scotland in 2023 is 61 out of 100.
• Disabled people, people on lower incomes, social housing tenants, private tenants and younger people have lower levels of wellbeing.
• There is a widespread lack of trust in political systems and institutions including UK Government, Scottish Government and local councils in Scotland.
• Younger people experience multiple challenges to their wellbeing while older people consistently have the highest levels of wellbeing.

The Life in the UK index was designed to provide an overall assessment of ‘how life is’. The overall Collective Wellbeing score is an average of the scores for each of the four wellbeing domains: social, economic, environmental and democratic. Higher scores indicate we found a higher level of wellbeing.

The 2023 publication outlines Scotland’s scores for collective, social, economic, environmental and democratic wellbeing. The research is based on a representative survey of 6,941 people from across the UK, including 1,132 from Scotland.  It presents key findings in relation to how different demographics are living across Scotland.

Overall, Scotland’s collective wellbeing score is in line with that of the UK, at 61 out of a possible 100. The collective wellbeing score is the average of the scores for social, economic, environmental and democratic wellbeing and measures whether we are ‘living well together’.

On social wellbeing Scotland scored 73 out of a possible 100. We found a 13-point gap between the social wellbeing scores of disabled people (64) and non-disabled people (77). In 2023 we also saw a linear relationship between age and social wellbeing: as age increases, so too do wellbeing scores.

On economic wellbeing Scotland scored 69 out of 100. We found a 26-point gap in economic wellbeing between the economic wellbeing scores of social housing tenants (49) and homeowners (75) as well as a 14-point gap between disabled people (59) and non-disabled people (73).

On environmental wellbeing Scotland scored 65 out of 100. We found that there is an inverse linear relationship between environmental wellbeing and area deprivation: as deprivation decreases, environmental wellbeing increases. We also found that the environmental wellbeing score for those living in the most deprived areas is 57 compared to 67 in the top quintile (a 10-point gap).

On democratic wellbeing Scotland scored just 39 out of 100. We found a 6-point gap between the democratic wellbeing score of those aged 16 to 54 and those aged 55 and over.

Our 2023 findings for Scotland indicate that the Scottish Government and local councils must act to reduce the wellbeing gaps between socio-economic groups in Scotland. The Scottish Government should adopt and implement legislation to protect the wellbeing of current and future generations, requiring wellbeing outcomes and indicators to be meaningfully incorporated across government departments and the public sector. We call on MSPs to support plans for a Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill. Political parties, the Scottish Government and local councils must invest in fresh and sustained efforts to reverse the sense of alienation from local and national decision making and increase opportunities for meaningful participation.