Notes
Work-related websites
Introduction
The main sources for work-related data are large government surveys, each of which is discussed in the relevant survey pages rather than here. These surveys are:
- The Labour Force Survey.
- Out-of-work benefits.
- The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
- The Annual Business Inquiry survey.
This page focuses on those aspects of work where the data is either not available from these surveys or where they are not the recommended source. More specifically, it covers:
- Out-of-work benefit take-up: official estimates of non-take-up are available.
- Out-of-work benefits - Northern Ireland: the main dataset only covers Great Britain so other sources are required for Northern Ireland.
- Low pay estimates over time: whilst both the Labour Force Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings contain data about pay, neither is considered the best source for data on how the prevalence of low pay has changed over time.
- Tax credits: detailed administrative data is available on tax credits.
- Jobs: whilst both the Labour Force Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings contain data about jobs, this is not their primary purpose and neither is considered the best source for data on the number of jobs.
- Job insecurity: longitudinal data is available on people moving on and off out-of-work benefits.
- European-wide comparisons: all the 'Laeken indicators' relating to poverty and social exclusion.
Take-up of out-of-work benefits
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Main website: DWP benefit take-up estimates which provide annual estimates of non-take-up of benefits.
- Underlying datasets: Family Resources Survey.
- Other websites: none.
- Update frequency: annual.
- Data format: tables within pdf publications.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Scope | Graphs | Update timing | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensioner take-up of benefits | Great Britain | first and second | September | For Pension Credit: tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. For Council Tax Benefit: tables 4.1 and 4.2. For Housing Benefit: tables 3.1 and 3.2. In each case, estimate the numbers as the mid-points between the low-end and high-end estimates. |
| third and fourth | March | The estimates for Pension Credit are published separately and earlier than those for the other benefits. Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. Estimate the numbers as the mid-points between the low-end and high-end estimates. |
||
| Housing Benefit | Great Britain | first | September | Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Estimate the numbers as the mid-points between the low-end and high-end estimates. |
| third | irregular | The data has to be requested. |
Because the data is only available for the Great Britain as a whole, there are no equivalent graphs for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Benefits in Northern Ireland
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: Department of Social Development.
- Main website: Department for Social Development website which contains publications for each of the benefits plus client group analyses
- Underlying datasets: based on a 100% survey of recipients.
- Other websites: none.
- Update frequency: quarterly.
- Data format: spreadsheets.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location of low income | October | second | Use February quarter data. Table PC9.2 from the Pension Credit summary of statistics. Use claimants rather than beneficiaries and exclude those in receipt of the savings element only. |
| Working-age out-of-work benefit recipients | September | first, fourth and fifth | The data has to be requested. |
| second | Use February quarter data. Tables B7 and C9 from the Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance statistics. |
||
| third | Use February quarter data. Tables B8 and C3 from the Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance statistics. |
||
| Long-term working-age out-of-work benefit recipients | September | first | The data has to be requested. |
| second | Use February quarter data. Tables B8 and C3 from the Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance statistics. |
||
| Daily living allowance recipients | September | first | Use February quarter data. Table DLA2 from the Disability Living Allowance statistics. |
Low pay
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: Office for National Statistics (ONS).
- Main website: ONS low pay estimates which provide UK-wide estimates of the number of employees at given pay thresholds.
- Underlying datasets: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (although only for the most recent years).
- Other websites: ONS average earnings index.
- Update frequency: annual.
- Data format: spreadsheets.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Scope | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Young adult low pay | UK | November | first and second | Use the 18-21 aged group. Calculate the low pay threshold for each year by taking a given pay threshold in the latest year and deflating this threshold by the ONS average earnings index using the seasonally adjusted (LNMQ) index. For each year, the percentage of people paid less than the threshold will lie somewhere between the lower and upper 10p bands. Given this, use the technique of interpolation to estimate the percentage (a more detailed discussion of how to use interpolation for this purpose is given in the page on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings). |
| third | ||||
| Numbers in low pay | UK | November | first and second | Use the 22+ aged group. Use the same methods of calculation as for the young adult low pay indicator above. |
| third |
Because the data is only available for the UK as a whole, there are no equivalent over-time graphs for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Tax credits
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: HM Revenue & Customs.
- Main website: HM Revenue & Customs personal tax credits website which contains all the publicly available tax credit data.
- Underlying datasets: none.
- Other websites: none.
- Update frequency: six-monthly.
- Data format: spreadsheets.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Scope | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In receipt of tax credits | UK | April | first and second | Use table 2 of the geographical statistics where the relevant columns are those headed 'With children - with CTC more than the family element' and 'With no children'. Exclude the column headed 'With CTC at or below the family element' because these recipients are not part of the means-tested part of tax credits. Exclude the column headed 'Out of Work' because these are people who are in receipt of out-of-work benefits but where their child supplements are, for administrative reasons, considered to be tax credits. There is an issue of what working-age household estimates to use as the denominator. Such data is only directly available from the 2001 Census but, as the number of households is increasing quite rapidly, using this as a denominator for all years potentially over-states the rate of increase in tax credits. The solution adopted is to estimate the total number of working-age households by multiplying the total number of households in each year by the proportion of total households who were of working-age in the 2001 Census. Uses an intermediate spreadsheet to hold all the data for all the years. |
The graphs for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are effectively a subset of the UK graphs.
Jobs
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: Office for National Statistics (ONS).
- Main website: ONS Labour Market Statistics website which contains monthly reports giving the official labour market statistics for each of the regions of the UK.
- Underlying datasets: none, but the much of the underlying data comes from the Labour Force Survey (a survey of people) and the Annual Business Inquiry (a survey of employers).
- Other websites: Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment website which contains a range of tables from the Quarterly Employment Survey in Northern Ireland.
- Update frequency: monthly.
- Data format: tables as part of pdf documents.
Note that the data from the Annual Business Inquiry and from other employer surveys relates to the location where an individual works rather than where they live.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Scope | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue collar employment | UK | July | first | Table 5 of the UK report. Labour Market Statistics estimates are subject to substantial revision from time to time so all the old figures should be over-written each time. |
| fourth | Table 5 of the regional reports. Uses the March data which is published in the July reports. Labour Market Statistics estimates are subject to substantial revision from time to time so all the old figures should be over-written each time. Unlike the UK-wide report, the regional reports do not include self-employed jobs. These therefore need to be added using the Labour Force Survey as the source. There is no Northern Ireland regional report. Add in Northern Ireland using data from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment website. |
The graphs for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are effectively a subset of the UK graphs.
Job insecurity
Sources
In summary:
- Responsible government department: Office for National Statistics (ONS).
- Main website: none - data has to be requested.
- Underlying datasets: Joint Unemployment and Vacancies Operating System (JUVOS) cohort.
- Update frequency: annual.
- Data format: spreadsheets.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Scope | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insecure at work | Great Britain | May | first | This data has to be requested. |
The graphs for Scotland and Wales are effectively a subset of the Great Britain graph.
European comparisons
Sources
In summary:
- Main website: Eurostat indicators website - social cohesion section which contains many (but not all) of the 'Laeken indicators' relating to poverty and social exclusion.
- Underlying datasets: none, but the much of the underlying data comes from the equivalents to the British Household Panel Survey and Labour Force Survey in each country.
- Other websites: Eurostat indicators website - population and social conditions section (subsection: main indicators - Laeken indicators), which contain most of the other 'Laeken indicators'.
- Update frequency: irregular.
- Data format: tab-delimited tables which can be imported into Excel.
Note that the placement of particular indicators on the Eurostat website changes from time to time.
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Graphs | Update timing | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers in low income | fourth | irregular | The latest data may differ by a few years for some countries. |
| Children in workless households | fourth | ||
| Without a basic qualification at age 19 | fifth | ||
| Workless households | third |