Census 2001 - Work of England and Wales

The 2001 Census asked people to answer a number of questions about different aspects of their working lives. These questions were developed to approximate to those used in ONS' Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is the basis for published monthly statistics of employment, unemployment and inactivity. These follow the internationally standard definitions set out in the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). However, the Census is self-completed by householders which means that data from this source can be classified only approximately to the ILO definitions.

As a result, comparisons between the Census and LFS results on the labour market can only be approximate. For example in the Census results full-time students are not shown in the separate figures for employment or unemployment; they are separately identified (as economically active students), whereas in LFS estimates they are included with other employed or unemployed people as indicated by the ILO guidelines. The Census results cover the 16-74 age group, whereas LFS headline estimates of the numbers employed and unemployed are typically presented for all those of working age (16-64 for men and 16-59 for women). Finally, the Census includes people living in institutions, such as soldiers' barracks, which the LFS does not, at present, cover fully.

In addition, there are a number of reasons why differences between the ways in which Census and LFS data are collected lead to differences in estimates between the two sources. Census forms were distributed to each household, which completed the form and returned it. LFS data is collected by interviewers, who can help the individual understand the questions and check some of the information as it is provided.

ONS advise that at national and regional levels, the greater definitional precision of the LFS is sufficiently important that aggregate estimates of employment, unemployment and inactivity from the LFS should be preferred to those from the Census. For smaller local areas, sampling errors in LFS estimates become more significant and the Census results at that level should therefore be given greater weight.

ONS's expectation is that estimates of employment from the Census will be lower than those from the LFS, but estimates of unemployment will be higher.

Notes
The Census asked people:

• Whether they were working in the week before Census Day
• If so:
  • Whether they were an employee or self-employed
  • The number of people who worked at their workplace
  • Their occupation, and whether they supervised other employees
  • The industry and whereabouts of their employer
  • How they travel to work
  • The number of hours they usually work per week
• If they weren't working:
  • Whether they were looking for work, and available to start a job (or waiting to take one up)
  • Whether they were retired, or a student, looking after a family or home, or sick or disabled.