Skillset/UK Film Council Feature Film Production Workforce Survey 2008

2.6 Marital and family status

The present survey found fewer respondents were married or living as a couple than was the case in the 2005 production workforce survey report (57% compared with 61%), and this was lower than in the UK workforce as a whole according to LFS data, but equivalent to the proportion found in the audio visual workforce.

Table 2.6.1 demonstrates how marital status varied with age. The majority of those under 24 were single while over two-thirds of those aged 35 or older were married or living as a couple. 

Table 2.6.1 Marital status by age

Respondents in the 35-49 year old age group were the most likely to have dependent children living with them or otherwise (Table 2.6.2). None of the respondents under 24 had dependent children under 16 (a fall from 4% reported in the 2005 film production workforce survey). The proportion of respondents with dependent children under the age of 16 was higher than that found in the audio visual workforce as a whole (34% compared with 26% according to the 2005 Survey of the Audio Visual Industries’ Workforce), but almost exactly the same as the proportion in the UK workforce as a whole (35% according to the 2004 LFS).

Table 2.6.2 Family status by age

As was the case in the 2005 survey report, men in the film survey sample were much more likely than women to be married or living as a couple (66% compared with 42%).  This gender difference is more marked than in the UK workforce as a whole - according to 2003 LFS data, 68% of men were married or living as a couple, compared to 64% of women.

Figure 2.6.1 Marital status by gender

Within the film industry workforce, the pattern varied with age. Table 2.6.3 reveals there was a difference between men and women in terms of their living arrangements for respondents under 35 years: men in this group were more likely to be married or living as a couple, a pattern repeated in the older age groups. This marks a change from the 2005 survey report findings, which showed no difference between men and women aged below 35.

Table 2.6.4 shows that men were also more likely than women to be living with dependent children under 16 (40% compared with 14%).  This pattern was repeated for every age group, and is even more pronounced than was reported by the 2005 survey, which found that 21% of women lived with dependent children under 16.

Table 2.6.3 Marital status by gender by age

Table 2.6.4 Family status by gender by age