Economic activity of Household Reference Person (England and Wales) 2011

Dataset population: Persons

Economic activity of HRP

Economic activity relates to whether or not a person who was aged 16 and over was working or looking for work in the week before census. Rather than a simple indicator of whether or not someone was currently in employment, it provides a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market.

A person's economic activity is derived from their 'activity last week'. This is an indicator of their status or availability for employment - whether employed, unemployed, or their status if not employed and not seeking employment. Additional information included in the economic activity classification is also derived from information about the number of hours a person works and their type of employment - whether employed or self-employed.

The census concept of economic activity is compatible with the standard for economic status defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It is one of a number of definitions used internationally to produce accurate and comparable statistics on employment, unemployment and economic status.

The concept of a Household Reference Person (HRP) was introduced in the 2001 Census (in common with other government surveys in 2001/2) to replace the traditional concept of the 'head of the household'. HRPs provide an individual person within a household to act as a reference point for producing further derived statistics and for characterising a whole household according to characteristics of the chosen reference person.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated September 20, 2022, 17:18 (BST)
Created September 20, 2022, 17:18 (BST)
Visibility Public
Year 2011
Topics Labour market
Units Persons
Geographic Layer Census Electoral Divisions
Census Wards
Counties
Countries
Local Authorities
London Boroughs
Lower Super Output Areas
Merging Local Authorities
Merging Wards and Electoral Divisions
Metropolitan Districts
Middle Super Output Areas
Non-Metropolitan Districts
Output Areas
Regions
Unitary Authorities
Frequency Decennial
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2011-2
Citation Office for National Statistics; National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; UK Data Service. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2011-2
Geographical Coverage Location England and Wales
Granularity Country level down to Output Areas and Small Areas
Geographic Spatial data {"geo_type": "multipolygon", "lat": "52.8926", "lon": "-1.97591", "left": "-5.71459", "top": "55.8111", "right": "1.76277", "bottom": "49.9742", "srid": null, "accuracy": null, "source": null}