were lone parent families and 25.5% of households were made up of individuals. The place of birth of the village's residents was 98.5% United Kingdom (including 94% from Scotland), 0.4% Republic of Ireland, 0.4% from other European Union countries, and 0.8% from elsewhere in the world. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 45.4% in full-time employment, 11.4% in part-time employment, 5.2% self-employed, 3.5% unemployed, 4% students with jobs, 4% students without jobs, 11.4% retired, 4% looking after home or family, 6.8% permanently sick or disabled, and 3.5% economically inactive for other reasons. Compared with the average demography of Scotland, Neilston has low proportions of people born outside the United Kingdom, and people over 75 years of age. Following the Scottish Reformation in 1560, there was no Roman Catholic place of worship in Neilston until 1861; it has been said that there was no resident Roman Catholic community in the parish in this time, the parishioners instead being Presbyterian. It was not until around the time of the Second Industrial Revolution, when the demand for labour was great, that Irish people began to come to Neilston and other parts of Scotland in increasing numbers, many of them because of The Great Hunger in the mid-19th century. As a result, Neilston, like neighbouring Glasgow, is home to a significant number of Catholic Irish-Scots. St Thomas's, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paisley, was built around 1861 to accommodate the new Catholic community. Economy Long existing as a rural settlement, Neilston's economy was historically driven by farming, although a trade in handloom woven garments from the village's cottage industry also existed from very early times. Grain mills and watermills were operating in Neilston by 1667. Due to its supply of hydropower from the River Levern, Neilston, like neighbouring Barrhead, developed factories and cotton mills after the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Neilston fostered a flourishing textile processing industry. At the peak of business, the River Levern was lined with bleachfields, cotton mills and calico printfields. Passing through the ownership of a series of successful companies, Crofthead Mill was once the biggest producer of spun cotton in Renfrewshire. Thread from Crofthead, and thus Neilston, was traded across the world. It is claimed that thread from Crofthead Mill held together the boots of the climbing team led by Chris Bonington on the British Everest Expedition in 1975. Neilston Agricultural Show is a