Economic activity of household reference person
Definition
Economic activity of the household reference person.
Economic activity relates to whether or not a person aged 16 and over was working or looking for work in the week before census. Rather than a simple indicator of whether or not someone was currently in employment, it provides a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market.
A person's economic activity is derived from their 'activity last week'. This is an indicator of their status or availability for employment - whether employed, unemployed, or their status if not employed and not seeking employment. Additional information included in the economic activity classification is also derived from information about the number of hours a person works and their type of employment - whether employed or self-employed.
The census concept of economic activity is compatible with the standard for economic status defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It is one of a number of definitions used internationally to produce accurate and comparable statistics on employment, unemployment and economic status.
Classification
Total number of categories 20
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Part Time |
| 2 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Full Time |
| 3 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Self-employed with employees - Part Time |
| 4 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Self-employed with employees - Full Time |
| 5 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Self-employed without employees - Part Time |
| 6 | Economically Active (excluding full time students)- Self-employed without employees - Full Time |
| 7 | Economically Active (excluding full time students) - Unemployed - Available for work |
| 8 | Economically Active Full time student - Employee - Part time |
| 9 | Economically Active Full time student - Employee - Part time |
| 10 | Economically Active Full time student - Self-employed with employees - Part time |
| 11 | Economically Active Full time student - Self-employed with employees - Full time |
| 12 | Economically Active Full time student - Self-employed without employees - Part time |
| 13 | Economically Active Full time student - Self-employed without employees - Full time |
| 14 | Economically Active Full time student - Unemployed - Available for work |
| 15 | Economically inactive - Retired |
| 16 | Economically inactive - Student |
| 17 | Economically inactive - Looking after home/ family |
| 18 | Economically inactive - Long term sick or disabled |
| 19 | Economically inactive - Other |
| -5 | No code required - comprises schoolchildren and full-time students living away from home during term time and all those under the age of 16. |
England & Wales (2021) and Scotland (2011) comparison
Economic acticity is directly comparable with the equivalent variable created by ONS for the 2021 census in England & Wales (economic_activity).
The Economic activity variable is directly comparable with the version created for Scotland's Census 2011.