Regional unemployment rates used by the Employment Insurance program, by effective date, current month.

London's unemployment rate was *** percent in the first quarter of 2025. Since 2000, London's unemployment rate was at its highest during the fourth quarter of 2011 when it reached **** percent.

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment), unemployment rate, participation rate and employment rate by census metropolitan area, last 5 months. Data are also available for the standard error of the estimate, the standard error of the month-to-month change and the standard error of the year-over-year change.

Unemployment numbers and rates for those aged 16 or over. The unemployed population consists of those people out of work, who are actively looking for work and are available to start immediately.

Unemployed numbers and rates also shown for equalities groups, by age, sex, ethnic group, and disability. Economic inactivity rates and numbers for regions.

The data are taken from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The data are produced monthly on a rolling quarterly basis. The month shown is the month the quarter ends on.

International Labour Organization define unemployed people as: without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or, out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next 2 weeks.

The figures in this dataset are adjusted to compensate for seasonal variations in employment (Seasonally adjusted).

Data by equalities groups has a longer time lag and is only available quarterly from the Annual Population Survey, which is not seasonally adjusted.

Click http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-labour/regional-labour-market-statistics/index.html">here for Regional labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics

Click http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/index.html">here for Labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment), unemployment rate, participation rate and employment rate by census metropolitan area. Data are presented for 12 months earlier, previous month and current month, as well as year-over-year and month-to-month level change and percentage change. Data are also available for the standard error of the estimate, the standard error of the month-to-month change and the standard error of the year-over-year change.

Unemployment numbers and rates for those aged 16 or over. The unemployed population consists of those people out of work, who are actively looking for work and are available to start immediately. Unemployed numbers and rates also shown for equalities groups, by age, sex, ethnic group, and disability. The data are taken from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics. The data are produced monthly on a rolling quarterly basis. The month shown is the month the quarter ends on. The International Labour Organization defines unemployed people as: without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or, out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next 2 weeks. The figures in this dataset are adjusted to compensate for seasonal variations in employment (seasonally adjusted). Data by equalities groups has a longer time lag and is only available quarterly from the Annual Population Survey, which is not seasonally adjusted. Useful links Click here for Regional labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics. Click here for Labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics. See here for GLA Economics' Labour Market Analysis. See here for Economic Inactivity statistics. See here for Employment rates. This dataset is one of the Greater London Authority's measures of Economic Fairness. Click here to find out more.

The most up-to-date information on London's economy, published by email every month. Each issue includes an overview of current economic conditions, the latest indicators and a supplement on a significant issue facing London. Additional data from the latest edition of London’s Economy Today can be found here on the Datastore. Sign up to receive London's Economy Today every month. HOUSING INDICATORS Nationwide Regional House Price Index (Quarterly since 1973) One of several indicators for house prices published on a quarterly basis. Nationwide External link The Land Registry house price index (Quarterly since 1968). Land Registry data External link LABOUR MARKET INDICATORS The unemployment rate. (Quarterly since Q2 1992) The unemployment rate measures the proportion of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) who were unemployed. Seasonally Adjusted. TRANSPORT INDICATORS London Underground Journeys (Monthly since 2006) including moving average and annual rate of growth Bus Journeys (Monthly since 2006) including moving average and annual rate of growth Passengers at London airports (Monthly since 1994) Monthly, and annual airport passenger figures including data from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead and London City airports. Cival Aviation Authority External link

Approximately 14.2 percent of people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2025, the highest of any age group in that month. During this time period, older age groups have had much lower unemployment rates than younger ones, who have consistently had the highest unemployment rate. For almost all the age groups, the peak in the unemployment rate was recorded in 2011 when almost a quarter of young working age people were unemployed. Young adults in the labor market In the provided time period, youth unemployment was at its lowest rate in the third quarter of 2022, when it was 10.3 percent. Since then, there has been a noticeable uptick in youth unemployment, which was 14.8 percent towards the end of 2024. A more long-term trend among this age group is the increase in economic inactivity, with 40.8 percent of 16 to 24-year-old's not in work or actively looking for work in 2024. Although students or people in training account for a high share of this economic inactivity, there has also been a rise in the proportion of young adults who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), which reached a ten-year-high of 13.2 percent in late 2024. Unemployment up from low baseline in late 2024 In 2022, the UK labor market, had very low levels of unemployment along with a record number of job vacancies. Throughout 2023 and 2024, this very tight labor market began to loosen, although is still quite low by historic standards. One indicator that has stood out since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, has been the number of people economically inactive due to being on long-term sick leave, which reached 2.82 million in the first quarter of 2024, and has been the main reason for economic inactivity in the UK since late 2021.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has jointly developed with Professor Ray Chambers of the University of Southampton, a new modelling methodology to produce modelled estimates of unemployment levels and rates on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition for local authority districts and unitary authorities (LAD/UAs). The unemployed population consists of those people out of work, who are actively looking for work and are available to start immediately. The data are taken from the Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The unemployment rate is based on persons aged 16 and over.

The methodology is on the ONS website.

Regional level data can also be found on the ONS website.

Abstract

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a study of the employment circumstances of the UK population. It is the largest household study in the UK and provides the official measures of employment and unemployment.The first Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the United Kingdom was conducted in 1973, under the terms of a Regulation derived from the Treaty of Rome. The provision of information for the Statistical Office of the European Communities (SOEC) continued to be one of the reasons for carrying out the survey on an annual basis. SOEC co-ordinated information from labour force surveys in the member states in order to assist the EC in such matters as the allocation of the Social Fund. The survey was carried out biennially from 1973 to 1983 and was increasingly used by UK government departments to obtain information which would assist in the framing of social and economic policy. By 1983 it was being used by the Employment Department (now the Department for Work and Pensions) to obtain information which was not available from other sources or was only available for Census years. From 1984 the survey was carried out annually, and since that time the LFS has consisted of two elements:

• a quarterly survey conducted in Great Britain throughout the year, in which each sampled address was called on five times at quarterly intervals, and which yielded about 15,000 responding households in every quarter;
• a 'boost' survey in the spring quarter (March-May), which produced interviews at over 44,000 households in Great Britain and over 4,000 households in Northern Ireland.

Users should note that only the data from the spring quarter and the 'boost' survey were included in the annual datasets for public release, and that only data from 1975-1991 are available from the UK Data Archive. The depositor recommends only considered use of data for 1975 and 1977 (SNs 1757 and 1758), as the concepts behind the definitions of economic activity changed and are not comparable with later years. Also the survey methodology was being developed at the time and so the estimates may not be reliable enough to use.

During 1991 the survey was developed, so that from spring 1992 the data were made available quarterly, with a quarterly sample size approximately equivalent to that of the previous annual data. The Quarterly Labour Force Survey series therefore superseded the annual LFS series, and is held at the Data Archive under GN 33246.

The study is being conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the government's largest producer of statistics. They compile independent information about the UK's society and economy which provides evidence for policy and decision making, and for directing resources to where they are needed most. The ten-yearly census, measures of inflation, the National Accounts, and population and migration statistics are some of our highest-profile outputs.

Geographic coverage

The whole country.

Analysis unit

• Individuals
• Families/households

Universe

• Households
• All persons normally resident in private households in the United Kingdom

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Stratified multi-stage sample; for further details see annual reports. Until 1983 two sampling frames were used; in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the Valuation Roll provided the basis for a sample which, in England and Wales, included all 69 metropolitan districts, and a two-stage selection from among the remaining non-metropolitan districts. In Northern Ireland wards were the primary sampling units. In Scotland, the Address File (i.e. post codes) was used as the basis for a stratified sample.From 1983 the Postoffice Address File has been used instead of the Valuation Roll in England and Wales. In 1984 sample rotation was introduced along with a panel element, the quarterly survey, which uses a two-stage clustered sample design.

The sample comprises about 90,000 addresses drawn at random from the rating lists in 190 different areas of England and Wales With such a large sample, it Will happen by chance that a small number of addresses which were selected at random for the 1979 survey Will come up again In addition 2,000 addresses in 8 of the areas selected in 1979 have been deliberately re-selected again this time (me Interviewers who get these addresses In their work w,ll receive a special letter to take with them.)

The sample is drawn from the "small users" sub-file of the Postcode Address File (PAF), which is a list of all addresses (delivery points) to which mail is delivered, prepared by the Post OffIce and held on computer. "Small users" are delivery points that receive less than 25 afiicles of mail a day and include all but a small proportion of private households. The PAF is updated regularly by the Post Office but, as mentioned in Chapter 1, there was an interruption in the supply of updates in the period leading up to the 1988 msurvey. As a result one third of the sample was drawn from the PAF as at March 1986 and two thirds from the sample as at September 1986.

Sample sizes and response rates Numbers of households who answered the questions in the Housing. Trailer were 37,761 in 1988. The corresponding response rates were 82.5 percent. Response rates were highest in East Anglia with nearly 89 percent in 1988, lowest in Inner London with 73 percent in 1988.

Sampling deviation

One of the limitations of the LFS is that the sample design provides no guarantee of adequate coverage of any industry, as the survey is not industrially stratified. The LFS coverage also omits communal establishments, except NHS housing, students in halls of residence and at boarding schools. Members of the armed forces are only included if they live in private accommodation. Also, workers under 16 are not covered. As in previous years, the sample for the boost survey was drawn in a single stage in the most densely populated areas, in two stages elsewhere. The areas where the sample was drawn in a single stage were:

(I) local authority districts in the metropolitan counties and Greater London; (II) districts which, based on the 1981 Census.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

All questions in the specification are laid out using the same format. Some questions (for instance USUWRKM) have a main group routed to them, but subsets of this group are asked variations of the question. In such cases the main routing is at the foot of the question as usual, and the subsets are listed separately above it, with the individual aspect of the routing indented slightly from the left of the page.

In addition to the information on the address list, the address and serial number is also pre-printed on the E questionnaire to save time and increase accuracy. You will see that each E questionnaire has been pre-printed with household number 01. Where there is more than one household to be interviewed, you will need to enter the information on the blank E questionnaires provided.

Cleaning operations

Information Technology Centres provides one-year training and practical work experience course in the use of computers and word processors and other aspects of information technology (eg teletex, editing, computer maintenance).

Response rate

Method of calculating response rates The response rate indicates how many interviews were achieved as a proportion of those eligible for the survey. The formula used is as follows: RR = (FR + PR)/(FR + PR + OR + CR + RHQ + NC + RRI*) where RR = response rate, FR = full response, PR = partial response, OR = outright refusal, CR = circumstantial refusal, RHQ = refusal to HQ, NC = non contact, RRI = refusal to re-interview, *applies to waves two to five only.

The combined sample for tne UK IS over 63,00U householrls (60,000 for Great Britain). the sample size is intended to be sufficiently large to allow reliable informatlon to be produced at th national and regional levels, and also to allow analysls of fairly small subgroups of the population. The response rate achieved averaged between 80 and 85 percent.

Sampling error estimates

As with any sample survey, the results of the Labour Force Survey are subject to sampling errors. In addition, the results of any sample survey are affected by non-sampling errors, i.e. the whole variety of errors other then those due to sampling. As with all sample surveys, Labour Force Survey results are subject to sarnphng error. The survey consists of only one of a number of possible samples, and had a different sample been taKen a different estimate would probably leave resulted sampling error is the measure of this variatlon. Sampling error can be reduced by stratifying the sample (although the increased error caused by clustering cannot be ehmmated by tires means). The stratum III boost survey PSUS were stratified by the proportion of economically actwe men who were unemployed in the local authorrty district according to the 1981 Census, while in Scotland the strata II and Ill sample was stratified by the percentage of persons in employment who were working in manual occupations These stratificatlon’s tend to reduce samping error in relahon to measurements of charactenshcs related to the factors used in strahficatlon. Hence lt is unappropriate to calculate sampling error for the LFS assuming simple random sampling, and errors are, therefore, estimated taking account of the sample design Standard errors for Great Bntam were estrmated (taking the complex sample design into account) by combining the variances for the major strata of the

The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was 4.7 percent in May 2025, an increase from the previous month. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK had relatively low levels of unemployment, comparable with the mid-1970s. Between January 2000 and the most recent month, unemployment was highest in November 2011, when the unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent. Will unemployment continue to rise in 2025? Although low by historic standards, there has been a noticeable uptick in the UK's unemployment rate, with other labor market indicators also pointing to further loosening. In December 2024, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to its lowest level since May 2021, while payrolled employment declined by 47,000 compared with November. Whether this is a continuation of a broader cooling of the labor market since 2022 or a reaction to more recent economic developments, such as upcoming tax rises for employers, remains to be seen. Forecasts made in late 2024 suggest that the unemployment rate will remain relatively stable in 2025, averaging out at 4.1 percent and falling again to four percent in 2026.
Demographics of the unemployed As of the third quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for men was slightly higher than that of women, at 4.4 percent, compared to 4.1 percent. During the financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, the unemployment rate for women peaked at a quarterly rate of 7.7 percent, whereas for men, the rate was 9.1 percent. Unemployment is also heavily associated with age, and young people in general are far more vulnerable to unemployment than older age groups. In late 2011, for example, the unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 reached 22.3 percent, compared with 8.2 percent for people aged 25 to 34, while older age groups had even lower peaks during this time.

In May 2025, the employment rate in the United Kingdom was 75.2 percent, up from 75.1 percent in the previous month. After almost dropping below 70 percent in 2011, the employment rate in the United Kingdom started to climb at a relatively fast pace, peaking in early 2020. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, employment declined to 74.6 percent by January 2021. Although not quite at pre-pandemic levels, the employment rate has since recovered. Labor market trouble in 2025? Although unemployment in the UK spiked at 5.3 percent in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it fell throughout most of 2022, to just 3.6 percent in August 2022. Around that time, the number of job vacancies in the UK was also at quite high levels, reaching a peak of 1.3 million by May 2022. The strong labor market put employees in quite a strong position, perhaps encouraging the high number of resignations that took place around that time. Since 2023, however, the previously hot labor market has cooled, with unemployment reaching 4.6 percent in April 2025 and job vacancies falling to a four-year low of 736,000 in May 2025. Furthermore, the number of employees on UK payrolls has fallen by 227,500 in the first five months of the year, indicating that 2025 will be a tough one for the labor market. Headline economic measures revised in early 2025 Along with the unemployment rate, the UK's inflation rate is also expected to be higher than initially thought in 2025, reaching a rate of 3.2 percent for the year. The economy will also grow at a slower pace of one percent rather than the initial prediction of two percent. Though these negative trends are not expected to continue in the long term, the current government has already expended significant political capital on unpopular decisions, such as the cutting of Winter Fuel Payments to pensioners in 2024. As of June 2025, they are almost as unpopular as the previous government, with a net approval rating of -52 percent.

Employment by industry and sex, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

These ward level well being scores present a combined measure of well-being indicators of the resident population based on 12 different indicators. Where possible each indicator score is compared with the England and Wales average, which is zero. Scores over 0 indicate a higher probability that the population on average will experience better well-being according to these measures. Users can adjust the weight of each indicator depending on what they consider to be the more or less important, thus generating bespoke scores. This is done either by entering a number between 0 and 10. The scores throughout the spreadsheet will update automatically. The tool combines data across a range of themes for the last five years of available data (2009-2013). Either view the results in the online interactive tool here, Or download the interactive spreadsheet here The well-being scores are then presented in a ranked bar chart for each borough, and a ward map of London. The spreadsheet also highlights wards in the top and bottom 25 per cent in London. Wards that have shown significant improvement or reduction in their scores relative to the average over the five year period are also highlighted. Borough figures are provided to assist with comparisons. Rankings and summary tables are included. The source data that the tool is based on is included in the spreadsheet. The Excel file is 8.1MB. IMPORTANT NOTE, users must enable macros when prompted upon opening the Excel spreadsheet (or reset security to medium/low) for the map to function. The rest of the tool will function without macros. If you cannot download the Excel file directly try this zip file (2.6MB). If you experience any difficulties with downloading this spreadsheet, please contact the London Datastore in the Intelligence Unit. Detailed information about definitions and sources is contained within the spreadsheet. The 12 measures included are: Health - Life Expectancy - Childhood Obesity - Incapacity Benefits claimant rate Economic security - Unemployment rate Safety - Crime rate - Deliberate Fires Education - GCSE point scores Children - Unauthorised Pupil Absence Families - Children in out-of-work households Transport - Public Transport Accessibility Scores (PTALs) Environment - Access to public open space & nature Happiness - Composite Subjective Well-being Score (Life Satisfaction, Worthwhileness, Anxiety, and Happiness) (New data only available since 2011/12) With some measures if the data shows a high figure that indicates better well-being, and with other measures a low figure indicates better well-being. Therefore scores for Life Expectancy, GCSE scores, PTALs, and Access to Public Open Space/Nature have been reversed so that in all measures low scores indicate probable lower well-being. The data has been turned into scores where each indicator in each year has a standard deviation of 10. This means that each indicator will have an equal effect on the final score when the weightings are set to equal. Why should measuring well-being be important to policy makers? Following research by the Cabinet Office and Office for National Statistics, the government is aiming to develop policy that is more focused on ‘all those things that make life worthwhile’ (David Cameron, November 2010). They are interested in developing new and better ways to understand how policy and public services affect well-being. Why measure well-being for local areas? It is important for London policy makers to consider well-being at a local level (smaller than borough level) because of the often huge differences within boroughs. Local authorities rely on small area data in order to target resources, and with local authorities currently gaining more responsibilities from government, this is of increasing importance. But small area data is also of interest to academics, independent analysts and members of the public with an interest in the subject of well-being. How can well-being be measured within small areas? The Office for National Statistics have been developing new measures of national well-being, and as part of this, at a national and regional level, the ONS has published some subjective data to measure happiness. ONS have not measured well-being for small areas, so this tool has been designed to fill this gap. However, DCLG have published a tool that models life satisfaction data for LSOAs based on a combination of national level happiness data, and 'ACORN' data. Happiness data is not available for small areas because there are no surveys large enough for this level of detail, and so at this geography the focus is on objective indicators. Data availability for small areas is far more limited than for districts, and this means the indicators that the scores are based on are not all perfect measures of well-being, though they are the best available. However, by using a relatively high number of measures across a number of years, this increases the reliability of the well-being scores. How can this tool be used to help policy makers? Each neighbourhood will have its own priorities, but the data in this tool could help provide a solid evidence base for informed local policy-making, and the distribution of regeneration funds. In addition, it could assist users to identify the causes behind an improvement in well-being in certain wards, where examples of good practice could be applied elsewhere. Differences to the previous report This is the 2013 edition of this publication, and there is one change from 2012. Indicators of Election turnout has been replaced with a composite score of subjective well-being indicators. Past versions are still available for 2011 and 2012. The rationale/methodology paper from 2011 is here. The scores from the 2012 spreadsheet are also available in PDF format. The scores in Intelligence Update 21-2012 are based on equal weightings across each measure. This tool was created by the GLA Intelligence Unit. Please contact datastore@london.gov.uk for more information.

As of the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate for people of white ethnicity in the United Kingdom was 3.7 percent, the lowest of the provided ethnic groups in this quarter. By contrast, the unemployment rate for people in the Pakistani ethnic group was 13.1 percent.

Background The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a unique source of information using international definitions of employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with a wide range of related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. It is used to inform social, economic and employment policy. The LFS was first conducted biennially from 1973-1983. Between 1984 and 1991 the survey wa s carried out annually and consisted of a quarterly survey conducted throughout the year and a 'boost' survey in the spring quarter (data were then collected seasonally). From 1992 quarterly data were made available, with a quarterly sample size approximately equivalent to that of the previous annual data. The survey then became known as the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). From December 1994, data gathering for Northern Ireland moved to a full quarterly cycle to match the rest of the country, so the QLFS then covered the whole of the UK (though some additional annual Northern Ireland LFS datasets are also held at the UK Data Archive). Further information on the background to the QLFS may be found in the documentation. LFS Documentation The documentation available from the Archive to accompany LFS da tasets largely consists of the latest version of each volume alongside the appropriate questionnaire for the year concerned. However, LFS volumes are updated periodically by ONS, so users are advised to check the ONS LFS User Guide pages before commencing analysis. Additional data derived from the QLFS The Archive also holds further QLFS series: Special Licence access and Secure Data Service access datasets (see below); household datasets (produced twice a year); two-quarter and five-quarter longitudinal datasets; quarterly, an nual and ad hoc module datasets compiled for Eurostat; and some additional annual Northern Ireland datasets. LFS move from seasonal to calendar quarters In accordance with European Union regulations, the QLFS moved from seasonal (spring, summer, autumn, winter) quarters to calendar quarters (January-March, April-June, July-September, October-December) in 2006. Subsequently, calendar versions of all datasets in the main QLFS series were deposited and the previous seasonal datasets were removed from the Archive's catalogue at the request of ONS. However, some seasonal datasets may st ill exist for other LFS series, and ONS advise that, because of the method of construction and the weighting factors used in the datasets, comparison cannot be made between datasets of a calendar and seasonal nature. Time series and longitudinal analysis should only be conducted on datasets of the same type. Further information on the seasonal to calendar quarter change and its impact on LFS data may be found in the following online article: Madouros, V. (2006) Impact of the switch from seasonal to calendar quarters in the Labour Force Survey, London: ONS. Special Licence QLFS data and corresponding changes to EUL datasets: From the January-March 2003 quarter, a Special Licence (SL) version of the QLFS data i s also available in addition to the version made available under the standard End User Licence (EUL). The SL version contains extra variables, and therefore is subject to more restrictive access conditions. Prospective users of the SL version will need to complete an extra application form and demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the extra variables, in order to get permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). Therefore, most users should order the standard version of the data. In order to help users choose the correct dataset, 'Special Licence Access' has been added to the dataset titles for the SL versions of the data. Typically, the extra non-EUL variables that can be found in the SL data, are: month and year of birth (variables dobm and doby); Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics Level 2 (NUTS2 - county-level); 4-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for occupation in apprenticeship, last job, second job and job made redundant from (soc2kap, soc2kl, soc2kr and soc2ks); unitary authority/local authority for place of residence and place of work (ua/la); urban/rural indicator (urind). Data for households of size 10 or above, which are excluded from the standard EUL data, can also be found in the SL data. With the introduction of SL data, some variables were correspondingly removed from the EUL datasets for 2003 onwards, including dobm, doby, nuts2, soc2kap, soc2kl, soc2kr and soc2ks. Users should note that these variables may still be referenced in the user guides without reference to restricted availability. Secure Data Service (SDS) QLFS data More comprehensive versions of the QLFS datasets are also available via the SDS. These datasets include further additional, detailed variables not included in either the EUL or SL versions. They are subject to further access restrictions (see the SDS website for details). LFS Reweighting Project 2011: Dur ing 2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) undertook a project to reweight QLFS data to 2010 population estimates. It is planned that reweighted data from July-September 2001 - October-December 2010 will be released in due course, but it is not yet known when these data will be deposited at the Archive. Quarters prior to July-September 2001 will remain weighted to the 2007-2008 population figures. Changes to QLFS identifier variables Changes designed to improve confidentiality have been made to the identifier variables supplied with the main QLFS datasets from January-March 2011 onwards. Further information is available on the ESDS Government Labour Force Survey page - users are strongly advised to read it before beginning analysis.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Inventing Adulthoods (IA) archive currently consists of qualitative interview transcripts for 30 young people interviewed up to six times. Transcripts for a further 20 young people will be included in the archive in the near future. Inventing Adulthoods is a qualitative longitudinal (QL) study that 'walked alongside' young people as they moved from early teenage years to young adulthood in five contrasting areas of England and Northern Ireland. This dataset showcases the biographical material collected between 1998 and 2004, providing a unique window on many aspects of young people's lives at the turn of the 21st century.

The case data for each of these young people comprise biographical data that illustrate change over time in most aspects of their lives: home and family, leisure, education, work, relationships, identity and adulthood.

Interview 1: focuses more specifically on moral development
Interview 2: includes perceptions of life chances and the future, as well as reflections on the research process
Interview 3: if young people had responded to the memory book research method, this involves data based on discussion of the content of the memory book. If not, the content reflects that of Interview 2
Interview 4: includes material on social perceptions and responses to issues of social exclusion and reflections on the research process
Interview 5: includes material on perceptions of community, networks and social change
Interview 6: includes material on spirituality and responses to the researcher's interpretations of the case narrative

The focus for investigation shifted from values, to adulthood, to social capital across these three studies. However, a consistent concern was to investigate agency and the 'reflexive project of self'; values and the construction of adult identity; how the social and material environment in which young people grow up acts to shape the values and identities that they adopt; and the impact of globalisation on the individual. Working with the complexity of young people's accounts, the study focused on the dynamic interplay between the individual, the resources available to them and the structuring effects of time, locality, class and gender.

The study also offers considerable methodological potential not only for the further development of prospective QL methodology and biographical and case history approaches but also for application to policy and practice. Further information is available at the project's site, Inventing Adulthoods.

In September 2011, the title was shorted to Inventing Adulthoods, 1996-2006 to describe the current data collection.

For the third edition (July 2011), 44 semi-structured interview transcripts with 10 new, young female respondents were added to the data collection (5777int108 to 5777int151).

Main Topics:

Teenagers, young adulthood, growing up.