Contrasting English and Scottish residents in the Scottish highlands and islands

In a previous paper the flows of migrants into the Scottish Highlands and Islands from the remainder of Britain were modelled using data from the 1991 British Census Special Migration Statistics. The findings suggested that middle class immigration from southern England continues to be a notable element of the population change in this remote rural destination. The individual-level analysis presented here uses a logit modelling approach to identify and contrast the characteristics of the English and Scottish residents in this destination area using data extracted from the 1991 British Census Sample of Anonymised Records (SARs). The results show that the socio-economic characteristics of the English and Scottish residents in the Scottish Highlands and Islands differ considerably. The family circumstances of English and Scottish residents were distinct with the English being more likely to be in 'non-traditional' households. English-born residents in the Highlands and Islands are also significantly different to the English living elsewhere in Scotland.