Mnemonic: activity_last_week
Applicability: Person
Type: Standard variable
Definition
This variable presents the same information as economic activity status, but in a slightly different way.
People aged 16 years and over were classified as “working” if they were economically active and in employment between 15 and 21 March 2021. This category is referred to as “employed” when looking in the higher-level (3 category) version of this variable in the Flexible Table Builder.
“Unemployed” refers to people who said they were out of work during the same period, but were either looking for work and could start within two weeks, or were waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted.
“Economically inactive” refers to people aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 to 21 March 2021, and who had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021, or could not start work within two weeks.
The “unemployed” and “economically inactive” groups are combined into “Not employed” when looking in the higher-level (3 category) version of this variable in the Flexible Table Builder.
The census definition differs from the International Labour Organization definition used on the Labour Force Survey, so estimates are not directly comparable.
This variable does not provide separate figures for students who were economically active; we recommend using economic activity status for analysis on students.
Classification
Total number of categories: 8
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Working |
| 2 | Unemployed |
| 3 | Economically inactive: Student |
| 4 | Economically inactive: Retired |
| 5 | Economically inactive: Long-term sick or disabled |
| 6 | Economically inactive: Looking after home/family |
| 7 | Economically inactive: Other |
| -8 | Does not apply* |
*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time, and children aged 15 years and under.
View all economic activity status last week classifications.
Quality information
As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using Labour Market data for planning purposes.
Read more in our Labour market quality information for Census 2021 methodology.
Question asked
In the last seven days, were you doing any of the following?
- Working as an employee
- Self-employed or freelance
- Temporarily away from work ill, on holiday or temporarily laid off
- On maternity or paternity leave
- Doing any other kind of paid work
- OR none of the above
In Census 2021 the question was revised to say "in the last seven days" and the number of options people could choose from were reduced from seven to six.
Background
Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.
Why we ask the question
The answers help your local community by allowing charities, organisations and local authorities to identify where action is needed to help tackle low employment rates in the area.
The answer also helps local authorities to make plans that support large amounts of public spending, for example, job creation, educational opportunities and health services.
The census first asked questions on employment in 1851.
This question is asking about your working status during the week of Monday 15 March to Sunday 21 March 2021.
Include any paid work that you've done. Remember temporary or casual work counts, even if you only worked for one hour for:
- an employer
- your own business
- a family business
- a private individual
If you have a job but have been off work because you have been furloughed, in quarantine or in self-isolation, select "Temporarily away from work ill, on holiday or temporarily laid off".
Only include unpaid work if it's been for your own, or a family business.
Select all the options that apply. Only include training programmes if you're being paid to attend.
What the terms mean "Working as an employee" means you're either paid a wage by an employer, or on a paid training programme. "Self-employed" means you own your business or professional practice. You may own the business alone, with a business partner or with family. If you're self-employed but have not been working because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, you should still select "Self-employed". "Freelance" means you’re self-employed, and work for different companies or people, on particular pieces of work. "Temporarily away from work ill" or "on holiday" includes a career break and means you will be returning to the same employer, even if you're not being paid during your time away. "Temporarily laid off" means an employer has asked an employee not to come to work for a certain period, usually because there's not enough work for them to do at that time. Select this option if this applies to you, and you expect to go back to work for the same employer, whether you're paid or not during this time. "On maternity or paternity leave" covers the time away from work after having a baby. It also includes adoption leave and shared parental leave (SPL). "Doing any other kind of paid work" includes payment in kind. For example, working in exchange for board and lodging as an au pair.
Comparability with the 2011 Census
Broadly comparable
We changed some of the wording on the Census 2021 questionnaire and removed some of the options that people could choose from.
What does broadly comparable mean?
A variable that is broadly comparable means that it can be generally compared with the same variable used in the 2011 Census. However, changes may have been made to the question or options that people could choose from or how write-in answers are classified.
England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland comparisons
Highly comparable
What does highly comparable mean?
A variable that is highly comparable means that it can be directly compared with the variable from Scotland and Northern Ireland. The questions and options that people could choose from may be slightly different, for example the order of the options may be swapped around, but the data collected is the same.
Find out more about variables produced for Census 2021 in Northern Ireland and Census 2022 in Scotland.
Census 2021 data that uses this variable
You can create a custom dataset.