Hours worked variable: Census 2021

Mnemonic: hours_per_week_worked
Applicability: Person
Type: Standard variable

Definition

The number of hours worked per week before the census includes paid and unpaid overtime. This covers the main job of anyone aged 16 years and over.

Classification

Total number of categories: 5

*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time, children aged 15 years and under, and people who were not employed in the week before 21 March 2021.

View all hours worked 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 your main job, how many hours a week do you usually work?

• 0 to 15
• 16 to 30
• 31 to 48
• 49 or more

In Census 2021 the question was revised and did not say "(including paid and unpaid overtime)". "15 or less" was changed to "0 to 15" in the list of options people could choose from.

Background

Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.

Why we ask the question

The answer helps communities by identifying how long people in their local area spend working each week. Local authorities will also use this information to target resources and identify potential labour supply.

This information helps local communities by giving an understanding, at a local level, of likely travel patterns and times. These patterns and times can help identify the need for public transport.

The answer shows whether people in different areas are employed full-time or part-time. It will help measure how effective projects and policies are in improving the economy.

This information can be used to analyse the workforce by occupation and hours worked. It can show whether lower-skilled people are more likely to work longer hours, for lower wages, than higher-skilled people. This helps to indicate the quality of life across local workforces.

The census first asked this question in 1961.

Comparability with the 2011 Census

Highly comparable

What does highly comparable mean?

A variable that is highly comparable means that it can be directly compared with the variable from the 2011 Census. 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.

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

We use variables from Census 2021 data to show findings in different ways.

You can:

• get the hours worked dataset
• view hours worked data on a map
• read about how an area has changed in 10 years
• view hours worked data for an area on Nomis (an Office for National Statistics service)

Alternatively, you can also create a custom dataset.

Other datasets that use this variable

• Hours worked by sex by age
• Occupation by hours worked
• Gender identity by hours worked
• Sexual orientation by hours worked
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (country inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (country outflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (lower tier local authority inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (lower tier local authority outflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (Middle layer Super Output Area inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (Middle layer Super Output Area outflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (national inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (region inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (region outflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (upper tier local authority inflow)
• Migration by economic activity and hours worked per week (upper tier local authority outflow)
• Cornish national identity by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Kashmiri ethnic group by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Nepali (includes Gurkha) ethnic group by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Ravidassia religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Sikh religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Jain religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by industry by hours worked by proficiency in English
• Cornish national identity by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Kashmiri ethnic group by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Nepali (includes Gurkha) ethnic group by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Ravidassia religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Sikh religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Jain religion, ethnic group and both religion and ethnic group by sex by economic activity by hours worked by disability
• Out of term-time population by hours worked
• Workday population by hours worked
• Workplace population by hours worked
• Location of usual residence and place of work by hours worked
• Economic activity status by hours worked by sex by long-term health problem or disability