DATA INSIGHTS - Occupation and COVID-19 deaths: Scotland in a comparative perspective

The pandemic has made an impact on everyone’s lives since March 2020. For many communities, it also has had a significant impact on death rates in the UK. Research teams are working closely with Scottish Government’s Covid-19 Data and Intelligence Network, exploring social risk factors for Covid-19.

Data Insights Overview

Led by our research team at SCADR, our project is focused specifically on the type of job people do. Within this Data Insights, we will highlight that people in certain jobs have a higher rate of dying from COVID-19 than those who work elsewhere. We also show comparisons between Scotland and England.

Key findings include:

• Scottish adults aged 40 to 64 years had higher COVID-19 mortality rates compared to English adults, with women showing lower rates than men.
• In Scotland, men working in essential elementary service occupations, such as kitchen assistants and waiters, along with large goods vehicle and taxi drivers had particularly high mortality rates.
• In contrast to English men, lower mortality rates were observed for Scottish men working as health professionals and as care workers and home workers, suggesting that the policies implemented in the health and social care sector in Scotland may offer a higher degree of protection.

Please see the full Data Insights here.

Health and Care Scotland article on this research here.

National Records Scotland statistical report stating the total number of deaths registered in Scotland for week 2 of 2022 (including Table 10: Covid-19 deaths by occupation).

medRxiv Preprint Server for Health Sciences article is available here. (doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.25.24301783)