Scotland's Census 2022 - UV602 - Economic activity of Household Reference Person (HRP)

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for Economic activity of Household Reference Person in Scotland.

Economic activity

Economic activity relates to whether or not a person 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.

Details of classification can be found here

Household reference person

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.

For a person living alone, it follows that this person is the HRP.

If a household contains only one family (with or without ungrouped individuals) then the HRP is the same as the Family Reference Person (FRP).

The Family Reference Person (FRP) is identified by criteria based on the family make up:

In a lone parent family it is taken to be the lone parent.

In a couple family, the FRP is chosen from the two people in the couple on the basis of their economic activity (in the priority order: full-time job, part-time job, unemployed, retired, other). If both people have the same economic activity, the FRP is identified as the elder of the two or, if they are the same age, the first member of the couple on the form.

If there is more than one family in a household the HRP is chosen from among the FRPs using the same criteria used to choose the FRP. This means the HRP will be selected from the FRPs on the basis of their economic activity, in the priority order:

Economically active, employed, full-time, non-student
Economically active, employed, full-time, student
Economically active, employed, part-time, non-student
Economically active, employed, part-time, student
Economically active, unemployed, non-student
Economically active, unemployed, student
Economically inactive, retired
Economically inactive, other

If some or all FRPs have the same economic activity, the HRP is the eldest of the FRPs. If some or all are the same age, the HRP is the first of the FRPs from the order in which they were listed on the questionnaire.

For families in which there is generational divide between family members that cannot be determined (Other related family), there is no FRP. Members of these families are treated the same as ungrouped individuals.

If a household is made up entirely of any combination of ungrouped individuals and other related families, the HRP is chosen from among all people in the household, using the same criteria used to choose between FRPs. Students at their non term-time address cannot be the HRP.

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field	Value
Last Updated	September 16, 2024, 15:39 (BST)
Created	September 16, 2024, 15:39 (BST)
Visibility	Public
Year	2022
Topics	Labour market
Units	Persons
Geographic Layer	Census Data Zones Census Intermediate Zones Census Wards Council Areas Countries Local Authorities Local Health Boards Output Areas Unitary Authorities Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies
Frequency	Decennial
DOI	http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2021-1
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-2021-1
Geographical Coverage Location	Scotland
Granularity	Country level down to output areas
Geographic Spatial data	{"geo_type": "multipolygon", "lat": "57.7424", "lon": "-4.69059", "left": "-8.61537", "top": "60.8457", "right": "-0.765806", "bottom": "54.639", "srid": null, "accuracy": null, "source": null}