This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify Household Reference Persons aged 16 years and over in England and Wales by NS-SEC of Household Reference Person and by household composition. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

Data about household relationships might not always look consistent with legal partnership status. This is because of complexity of living arrangements and the way people interpreted these questions. Take care when using these two variables together. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC)

The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) indicates a person's socio-economic position based on their occupation and other job characteristics.

It is an Office for National Statistics standard classification. NS-SEC categories are assigned based on a person's occupation, whether employed, self-employed, or supervising other employees.

Full-time students are recorded in the "full-time students" category regardless of whether they are economically active.

Household composition

Households according to the relationships between members.

One-family households are classified by:

• the number of dependent children
• family type (married, civil partnership or cohabiting couple family, or lone parent family)

Other households are classified by:

• the number of people
• the number of dependent children
• whether the household consists only of students or only of people aged 66 and over

A 2024 survey among internet users in the United Kingdom (UK) found that users belonging to the socio-economic group C1 (lower middle class) accounted for ** percent of medium online users, who used the internet for **** to ***** types of online activities.

Legacy unique identifier: P00032

This statistic looks at which socio-economic demographics retailers target in the United Kingdom in 2016. According to the survey, ** percent of retailers focus on the AB social-economic group (upper middle and middle classes) while only one percent focus on groups DE (working and non-working classes).

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 16 years and over in England and Wales by NS-SEC and by economic activity status. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC)

The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) indicates a person's socio-economic position based on their occupation and other job characteristics.

It is an Office for National Statistics standard classification. NS-SEC categories are assigned based on a person's occupation, whether employed, self-employed, or supervising other employees.

Full-time students are recorded in the "full-time students" category regardless of whether they are economically active.

Economic activity status

People aged 16 years and over are economically active if, between 15 March and 21 March 2021, they were:

• in employment (an employee or self-employed)
• unemployed, but looking for work and could start within two weeks
• unemployed, but waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted

It is a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market during this period. Economically inactive are those aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 March to 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021 or could not start work within two weeks.

The census definition differs from International Labour Organization definition used on the Labour Force Survey, so estimates are not directly comparable.

This classification splits out full-time students from those who are not full-time students when they are employed or unemployed. It is recommended to sum these together to look at all of those in employment or unemployed, or to use the four category labour market classification, if you want to look at all those with a particular labour market status.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 16 years and over in England and Wales by NS-SEC and by age. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

Estimates for single year of age between ages 90 and 100+ are less reliable than other ages. Estimation and adjustment at these ages was based on the age range 90+ rather than five-year age bands. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

• country - for example, Wales
• region - for example, London
• local authority - for example, Cornwall
• health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
• statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC)

The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) indicates a person's socio-economic position based on their occupation and other job characteristics.

It is an Office for National Statistics standard classification. NS-SEC categories are assigned based on a person's occupation, whether employed, self-employed, or supervising other employees.

Full-time students are recorded in the "full-time students" category regardless of whether they are economically active.

Age

A person’s age on Census Day, 21 March 2021 in England and Wales. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK. Data are shown by region, age, income (including equivalised) group (deciles and quintiles), economic status, socio-economic class, housing tenure, output area classification, urban and rural areas (Great Britain only), place of purchase and household composition.

Average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK. Data are shown by region, age, income (including equivalised) group (deciles and quintiles), economic status, socio-economic class, housing tenure, output area classification, urban and rural areas (Great Britain only), place of purchase and household composition.

Over the period from 2010 to 2020, profile creation increased among all socio-economic group. During the survey in 2020, it was revealed that 83 percent of responding individuals from social grade C1 reported setting up their personal profile on a social networking platform.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC) of people aged 16 and over by sex by age (in 16 categories) in Scotland.

Age

A person's age on Census Day, 20 March 2022. Infants aged under 1 year are classified as 0 years of age.

Sex

This is the sex recorded by the person completing the census. The options were "Female" and "Male". Guidance on answering the question can be found here

National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC)

The National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SeC) provides an indication of socio-economic position based on occupation.

To assign a person aged 16 and over to an NS-SeC category their occupation title is combined with information about their employment status, whether they are employed or self-employed and whether or not they supervise other employees. Full-time students are recorded in the ‘full-time students' category regardless of whether they are economically active or not.

Find out more about the National Statistics Socio-economic classification on the ONS website.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

BackgroundSocio-economic position (SEP) and ethnicity influence type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk in adults. However, the influence of SEP on emerging T2DM risks in different ethnic groups and the contribution of SEP to ethnic differences in T2DM risk in young people have been little studied. We examined the relationships between SEP and T2DM risk factors in UK children of South Asian, black African-Caribbean and white European origin, using the official UK National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) and assessed the extent to which NS-SEC explained ethnic differences in T2DM risk factors. Methods and FindingsCross-sectional school-based study of 4,804 UK children aged 9–10 years, including anthropometry and fasting blood analytes (response rates 70%, 68% and 58% for schools, individuals and blood measurements). Assessment of SEP was based on parental occupation defined using NS-SEC and ethnicity on parental self-report. Associations between NS-SEC and adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and triglyceride differed between ethnic groups. In white Europeans, lower NS-SEC status was related to higher ponderal index (PI), fat mass index, IR and triglyceride (increases per NS-SEC decrement [95%CI] were 1.71% [0.75, 2.68], 4.32% [1.24, 7.48], 5.69% [2.01, 9.51] and 3.17% [0.96, 5.42], respectively). In black African-Caribbeans, lower NS-SEC was associated with lower PI (−1.12%; [−2.01, −0.21]), IR and triglyceride, while in South Asians there were no consistent associations between NS-SEC and T2DM risk factors. Adjustment for NS-SEC did not appear to explain ethnic differences in T2DM risk factors, which were particularly marked in high NS-SEC groups. ConclusionsSEP is associated with T2DM risk factors in children but patterns of association differ by ethnic groups. Consequently, ethnic differences (which tend to be largest in affluent socio-economic groups) are not explained by NS-SEC. This suggests that strategies aimed at reducing social inequalities in T2DM risk are unlikely to reduce emerging ethnic differences in T2DM risk.

Legacy unique identifier: P00031

Presents data on birth registrations in England and Wales by National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) of father as defined by occupation. This publication has been discontinued as a result of a Consultation with users. Releases of this data will be included within Further Parental Characteristics. The last edition to be published was 2011. Source agency: Office for National Statistics Designation: National Statistics Language: English Alternative title: Live births by NS-SEC of father, England and Wales

The share of respondents who use a smartphone in the United Kingdom (UK) has increased across all socio-economic groups in the past years. In 2012, 51 percent of respondents who used a mobile phone in the C2 socio-economic group reported that it was a smartphone, and this proportion increased to over 90 percent in 2024. The share of smartphone usage is highest among the AB socio-economic group with 97 percent reporting to use a smartphone.

Between 2019 and 2023, people living in households in the Asian and ‘Other’ ethnic groups were most likely to be in persistent low income before and after housing costs

The two former official measures of social class - Social Class by Occupation (SC), previously known as Registrar General's Social Class (RGSC), and Socio-economic Groups (SEG) - were discontinued in 2001 when the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) was adopted as the sole official measure of social class in the UK.

Derivation Matrices for the Former Official Measures of Social Class, 2000, 2010 and 2020 provides derivation matrices for SC and SEG from the Standard Occupational Classifications 2000, 2010, and 2020 after their official discontinuation to enable their use in longitudinal data and comparative analyses.

Further information is available in the publications detailing the 2010 and 2020 work.

Background

This analysis was conducted as part of a university module to compare age with socio-economic group in the UK and investigates unemployment levels with deprivation in England.

Content

The dataset includes the English Indices of Deprivation 2015 and the 2011 UK census data.

The English indices of deprivation measures relative deprivation in small areas in England called lower-layer super output areas. The index of multiple deprivation is the most widely used of these indices. More information can be found on the government website here. The Index of Multiple Deprivation ranks every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 32,844 (least deprived area) and ranks them according to the following measures:

Income Deprivation Employment Deprivation Education, Skills and Training Deprivation Health Deprivation and Disability Crime Barriers to Housing and Services Living Environment Deprivation By including the 2011 UK census data and a lookup table (for combining the datasets) it is possible to see how age and gender corresponds to areas of deprivation.

Acknowledgements

All data has been made freely available by the UK Government and can be accessed here. It is strongly recommended that the guidance notes for this dataset are read before performing any analysis.

Employment by socio-economic occupation group (managers, professionals etc.) Source: Annual Population Survey (APS) Publisher: Nomis Geographies: Local Authority District (LAD), County/Unitary Authority, Government Office Region (GOR), National Geographic coverage: England Time coverage: 2004 to 2009 Type of data: Survey

Employment by socio-economic occupation group (managers, professionals etc.) Source: Census 2001 Publisher: Neighbourhood Statistics Geographies: Output Area (OA), Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA), Local Authority District (LAD), Government Office Region (GOR), National Geographic coverage: England and Wales Time coverage: 2001 Type of data: Survey (census)