2000 United Kingdom Travel Views – Demographics & Sociology

3.1  Demographic Profile

The UK has a relatively small population.

The United Kingdom, which has a population of 60 million people (49 million adults over the age of 15), has a similar demographic profile to that of the United States and other Western nations. It has a low infant mortality rate (5.9 deaths per 1000 live births), a life expectancy at birth of 77.2 years, and a literacy rate of 99%.

The British "Baby Boom" happened later than in North America.

Like the U.S., the UK experienced a post-war "Baby Boom" and a subsequent "Baby Bust" in the 1970s. However, the British "Baby Boom" happened in two stages -- a mini-boom from 1951-1961, when the average number of live births reached 839,000 per year; and a larger boom from 1961-1971 (963,000 live births per year.)  Only about 785,000 children were born per year in the 1940s and a mere 736,000 were born annually in the 1970s.  In 1976, deaths actually exceeded births in the UK.  While birth rates increased slightly in the 1980s, the total fertility rate (the average number of children born per woman) has decreased substantially. Today, the United Kingdom has the low annual population growth rate of 0.25%.

Source: UK Office of National Statistics, "Social Trends: Selected Sample".  UK Office of National Statistics, Statbase Dataset.

Travel markets to follow include over-45s and the student market.  The traditional family market is expected to shrink.

As in the U.S. and many countries, the UK will experience a "graying" of its population within the next 10 years. It is estimated that the UK's population of persons aged 45 and older will grow 14% by 2010. The 55-64 year old group will grow by a monumental 23%.

As a result of the 1970s Baby Bust, the population aged 25-44 will decrease by 6% by 2010.  The youngest population segment (children under 15) will decrease by 10%. Together, these two groups represent the traditional "family market" for the UK.  Clearly, as a result of decline in both groups, this market will be adversely impacted with respect to travel.  On the other hand, the young adult or "student" market is projected to grow by 10% over the next decade.

3.2  Social Values and Trends

The British people value health and education.

While health standards in the UK are not as good as in the U.S., they are comparable to those of other industrialized nations.

• There are 164 doctors per 100,000 people, compared to 245 doctors in the U.S.
• 25.9 AIDS cases per 100,000, compared to 225.3 cases per 100,000 in the U.S.
• 10.7 Tuberculosis cases per 100,000, compared to 7.9 cases per 100,000 in the U.S.
• 68 cigarettes smoked per adult, compared to 72 smoked per U.S. adult.

Source: United Nations Development Programme (1999). Human Development Report 1999

While education is important to the British government and people, the UK has a lower secondary school enrollment rate than in the United States.

• 1997 Literacy rate, 99%
• In 1997, 99.9% of the appropriate age group were enrolled in primary school.
• In 1997, 91.8% of the appropriate age group were enrolled in secondary school.
• In 1995, 31% of British tertiary school students were enrolled in a natural or applied science program.
• Between 1990 and 1996, there were 3.4 research and development scientists and technicians per 1000 people, as compared to 3.6 per 1000 people in the US.

Source:  United Nations Development Programme (1999). Human Development Report 1999

The UK is the tenth most developed nation in the World.

The UK ranks 10th in the World for human development, a series of indices developed by the United Nations Development Programme to measure nations against each other.

Cohabitation is increasingly prevalent.

In the mid-1980s, two-thirds of women under the age of fifty were married. Today, only about half of those women are married. Among never-married women, under age 50, three in ten are in cohabiting relationships. This trend is projected to continue and flourish. The Office of National Statistics estimates that there are over 1.5 million cohabiting couples in the United Kingdom. By 2021, this number is expected to double.

Source: UK Office of National Statistics (2000). Population Trends 100 Summer 2000

Family structure has changed dramatically in the last twenty-five years.

British families have changed a great deal in the last twenty-five years. First time mothers, at age 29.0, are on average three years older than they were typically in the 1970s. Women today are choosing to have children much later than in previous years.  In 1976, 69% of infants were born to women in their twenties and 20% to women in their thirties. Today, 48% of live births are delivered to women in their twenties and 42% to women in their thirties. In addition, cultural norms have shifted such that older mothers are much more socially acceptable than in previous decades.  Conception rates have fallen by 20% among women aged 20-24, but have increased by 62% among women aged 30-34 and by 82% among women aged 35-39.   These statistics may demonstrate increased use of birth control by younger women and vast improvement in fertility methods, allowing older women to conceive.

The make-up of families is also changing – one parent families, children born to unmarried parents, and childless families are all more prevalent today. Forty percent of infants in the UK are born to unmarried parents. Of those births, 93% are registered by both parents, suggesting that many of these parents are unmarried couples, who may be cohabiting. Single parent families have more than doubled in the last two decades from 750,000 families in 1976 to 1.6 million in 1996. At the same time, many families are electing not to have children – twenty percent of women born in 1960 do not have any children.

Analysis of UK households from 1961 to 1999 indicates trends towards single person households and single parent families.  Single family households with no children have increased, while families with children have decreased.

Source: UK Office of National Statistics (2000). Population Trends 100 Summer 2000.  UK Office of National Statistics, Statbase Dataset

3.3 Class, Ethnicity, Gender, and Regional Disparity

The United Kingdom remains a class-oriented society.

In 2001, the UK Office of National Statistics will unveil a new "socioeconomic classification" system, to replace the century old class system. Under the current system, there are six classes: professional; managerial and technical; skilled non-manual; skilled manual; partly skilled; and unskilled.

The new classification rubric separates the population based on "employment contract." Persons at the bottom of the class ladder earn money for a short-term output of labor, whereas those at the top are committed to their profession for the long-term, and are rewarded with higher salaries and benefits. The new system includes seven classes: 1) higher professional and managerial; 2) lower professional and managerial; 3) intermediate (secretaries, policemen, etc.); 4) self-employed and small employers; 5) lower technical (skilled manual workers, etc.); 6) lower-level services and sales (store clerks, service workers, etc.); and 7) routine occupations (semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers). 

While this system is not based on income, it ends up being fair at estimating both income and health.  Health status and income level decrease from class one to class seven, with the exception of the self employed group who tend to be as healthy as the class ones and twos. The UK Office of National statistics reports that men in the professional classes have a life expectancy of 77.7, while men in the lowest class are expected to live until they are 68.2 – a nine year difference. These statistics suggest a significant disparity in health and economic well being among the social classes.

Marketers typically use a second-class system, known as ABC1, to segment markets by income and employment.  This system classifies consumers into six groups: A) higher managerial, administrative or professional; B) intermediate managerial, administrative or professional; C1) supervisory or clerical, and junior managerial, administrative or professional; C2) skilled manual workers; D) semi and unskilled manual workers; E) all those entirely dependent on the state long term, through sickness, unemployment, old age, or another reason.

Sources: "Classification." The Economist. June 3, 2000. UK Office of National Statistics (2000). Population Trends 100 Summer 2000

The face of London is changing – the UK is becoming more ethnically diverse.

The United Kingdom is ethnically diverse and becoming more so everyday. As of 1998, there are 3.7 million minority residents in the UK accounting for about 6% of the population. Blacks account for the largest portion of non-white Britons, at 1.2 million citizens (44% of Caribbean descent, 31% of African descent, 25% of other Black descent, including persons of mixed ancestry). Other key ethnic minorities include persons of Indian (944,000), Pakistani (568,000), Bangladeshi (234,000), and Chinese (166,000) descent.

London is even more ethnically diverse than the rest of the UK. In 1998, 1.75 million minority residents live in London, accounting for about one-quarter of London's population.  There are 50 nationalities with communities of more than 5,000 that live in London and on any day over 300 languages are spoken in London. Ethnic enclaves such as Bangla Town, a Bangledeshi area of London, preserve immigrant culture. London is well known for its tolerance towards mixed-marriages and ethnic diversity.

Sources: UK Office of National Statistics (1999). "Estimate of the Population by Ethnic Group and Area of Residence, 1998, Great Britain"; Worrall, Simon. "London on a Roll." National Geographic. June 2000

In the UK, women are slightly less likely to hold leadership positions than in the US.

According to the United Nations, the UK ranks sixteenth worldwide in terms of gender empowerment and equity. In addition to examining the real GDP per capita (PPP$) of women (in the UK - $15,736), the GEM (gender empowerment measure) measures:

• the percentage of seats in Parliament held by women (12.3%)
• the percentage of administrators and managers who are women (33%)
• the percentage of professional and technical workers who are women (43.7%)

Source: United Nations Development Programme (1999). Human Development Report 1999

Urbanization is prevalent in the UK.

Ninety percent of UK residents live in towns or urbanized areas. More specifically, 53% live in areas of 100,000 people or more.

London and the Eastern portions of England are wealthier than the rest of the UK.

While the UK has less regional economic disparity than other EU nations, differences are still somewhat noteworthy. London, as well as the South-East and Eastern regions of England, are decidedly wealthier areas than the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland is the poorest area of the UK, where economic development has suffered due to political strife and armed combat. Wales and the North-East region of England are also poorer than Southern England, with higher unemployment due to the contraction of the coal, steel, and ship building industries.

3.4 Media Habits

The UK is more Internet savvy than either Germany or France.

According to an April 2000 survey by NetValue, 6.4 million UK households (27%) are now online. While this is still well behind the United States where 50.5 million households have access to the Internet, use in the UK is increasing. Forty-five percent of current subscribing households are new subscribers who have only been connected to the Internet for one year or less. Average Internet users in the UK go online 9.9 days per month (2.1 days less frequently than Americans.) In the UK, the Internet is used primarily for shopping, communication, and news reading. While online, UK Surfers are more likely to use instant messaging technology than Germans, French, or American users.

According to MMXI Europe, half (52%) of UK Internet surfers are men, while 37% are women, and 12% are children. Female visitors are likely to visit travel booking sites like www.lastminute.com and www.expedia.co.uk. British kids go online to get news and for entertainment. The most popular site for British kids is the BBC website (www.BBC.co.uk.)   MMXI Europe also reports that as of May 2000, there are now 10 million Internet users in the UK.

Future trends suggest that use of the Internet in the UK will continue to flourish. According to an article on the Cyber Atlas Web Marketer's Guide to Online Facts website, online shopping in the UK is expected to exceed £10billion, or $15.1 billion, this year. In addition, British consumers plan to expand their use of non-traditional Internet access methods, with 23% planning to access with Digital TV and 15% via their cell phones, in the next year. Cyber Atlas suggests that this potential translates to 5 million mobile Internet customers by the end of 2000.

The newspaper remains the most popular medium in the UK.

The nine London dailies can be characterized as:

1. The Times  – The world's oldest daily newspaper; read by the traditional and more conservative elites.
2. Daily Mirror – A relatively low substance paper read by working-class Britons.
3. The Guardian – Substantive alternative to The Times read by pro-Labour voters.
4. Morning Star – Socialist newspaper, exists to disseminate anti-capitalist and pro-socialist rhetoric.
5. Daily Mail – Read by the spouses of the conservative elites.
6. Financial Times – Read by financial stakeholders.
7. Daily Express  – Read by old-fashioned readers, who would rather have the UK as it used to be.
8. Daily Telegraph – Critical and conservative newspaper.
9. The Sun– Low substance and sensationalist tabloid.

Ninety-eight percent of British households have television.

According to the 1999 CIA World Factbook, there are 20 million TVs in the UK and 70 million radios.  Ninety-eight percent (98%) of households in the UK have TVs.  As of 1997, there were 78 television broadcast stations in the United Kingdom. The most well-known include BBC1, BBC2, ITV, and Channel 4. There are many more radio broadcast stations than TV stations. There are 225 AM stations and 525 FM stations. The most popular include BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, Virgin Radio, Classic FM, and Atlantic 252.

Sources: CIA World Factbook(1999); Office of Travel and Tourism Industries/International Trade Administration, United Kingdom Pleasure Travel Market to North America Final Report (1997.)

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