Mnemonic: occupation_former
Applicability: Person
Type: Derived variable
Definition
Classifies people aged 16 years and over who were not in employment between 15 March and 21 March 2021 but have previously worked, by the SOC code, that represents their former occupation.
Occupations are coded to the Standards Occupation Classification (SOC) 2020, which best matches the job title, or details of activities respondents carry out in their job.
Classification
Total number of categories: 11
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1. Managers, directors and senior officials |
| 2 | 2. Professional occupations |
| 3 | 3. Associate professional and technical occupations |
| 4 | 4. Administrative and secretarial occupations |
| 5 | 5. Skilled trades occupations |
| 6 | 6. Caring, leisure and other service occupations |
| 7 | 7. Sales and customer service occupations |
| 8 | 8. Process, plant and machine operatives |
| 9 | 9. Elementary occupations |
| 10 | Never worked |
| -8 | Does not apply* |
*Students and schoolchildren living away during term-time, children aged 15 years and under, and people who were employed in the week before 21 March 2021.
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.
Background
Read about how we developed and tested the questions for Census 2021.
Comparability with the 2011 Census
Not comparable
We changed the classification for Census 2021 and combined the categories previously available in the 2011 Census data.
What does not comparable mean?
A variable that is not comparable means that it cannot be compared with a variable from the 2011 Census.
England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland comparisons
Not comparable
This variable is not comparable as the data is not available for all countries.
What does not comparable mean?
A variable that is not comparable means that it cannot be compared for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
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.