LFS User Group meeting21 October 2003

Measuring ethnicity in the LFS

Vivienne Avery

Labour Market Division, ONS

2001 LFS Ethnicity Classification

• White (UK)

– British (excluding NI)

– other White (excluding

NI)

• Mixed

– white & black Caribbean

– white & black African

– white & Asian

– other mixed

• Asian or Asian British– Indian– Pakistani– Bangladeshi– other Asian

• Black or Black British– black Caribbean– black African– other black

• Chinese• Other ethnic groups

Dissemination of labour market statistics on ethnicity

• Regular Publications– Key estimates in LFS Quarterly Supplement (employment rates, economic activity by gender for 6

groups)– Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey (ALALFS)– Social and Regional Trends

• NOMIS– Quarterly datasets– Some estimates based on ALALFS

• ONS Data service– will provide estimates from ALALFS on request subject

to disclosure

Threshold levels for using data

• 10,000 - quarterly datasets

• 6,000 - average of 4 quarters

• 4,000 - for UK, GB and England

from ALALFS

• 2,000-6,000 - local areas from ALALFS

UK population by ethnic group, 2001/02

Percentage of Total UK

population

Percentage of UK minority ethnic

population

White 92.4 n/a

Mixed 0.8 11.0

Asian or Asian British

Indian 1.7 21.7

Pakistani 1.3 16.7

Bangladeshi 0.5 6.1

Other Asian 0.4 5.7

Black or Black British

Black Caribbean 1.0 13.6

Black African 0.9 12.0

Black Other 0.1 1.5

Chinese 0.3 4.2

Other 0.6 7.4

Not stated 0.2 n/a

All minority ethnic population 7.6 100.0

All population 100 n/a

Source: Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey, 2001/02

Office for National Statistics

Economic activity by ethnic group, 2001/2

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Bangladeshi

Pakistani

Other

Chinese

Black African

Other Asian

Other Black

Mixed

Indian

Black Caribbean

White

Unemployment rates in UK by ethnic group and sex, 2001/02

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

White

Mixed

Indian

Pakistani

Bangladeshi

Other Asian

Black Caribbean

Black African

Other

Men

Women

Age profile of ethnic groups

Distribution of Ethnic Minority Groups by Age, 2001/2% Under 16 % 16-64 % 65 and over

White 19 65 16Black Caribbean 25 67 9Black African 33 66 2Indian 22 71 6Pakistani 35 61 4Bangladeshi 38 58 3

Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey, 2001/2, ONS

Projected Growth in Working Age Population, 1999-2009 (selected groups)

Source: LFS data, cited in 'Minority Ethnic Participation and Achievement in Education,

Training and the Labour Market,' University of Warwick, 2000

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

All groups

White

Black Carribean

Indian

Black African

Pakistani

Other ethnic minorities

Bangladeshi

Projected Growth (%)

Issues for comparability over time

• Pre and post 2001 data are not directly comparable

• 2001 classification included a mixed category (and 4 sub-categories)

• Impact of introduction of mixed group has a greater effect on analyses studying White, Black groups and less on Asian groups

• Changes to question in 1996

• Concepts of ethnicity change over time

Ethnicity estimates - backcast time series

• Headline labour market series estimated between

Spring 1997 and Winter 2000/1 based on 2001

categories

• Methodology based on data collected from 2001

LFS respondents using both classifications

• Used to provide a baseline for DWP Public Service

Agreement target

Annual Population Survey (1)

• Starts January 2004• Enhanced annual data for England (Scotland,

Wales already boosted)• Target sample - 500 economically active persons in

each UA/LAD and 450 in Greater London Boroughs

• Will provide better quality local area information on key estimates such as ethnicity for Neighbourhood Statistics Programme (NeSS)

• Better inter-censal monitoring• First step towards Integrated Social Survey (ISS)

Annual Population Survey (2)

• Will focus on key Census-type estimates

• Plan for a single annual local area database

covering LFS, LLFS, APS

• First database will cover January-December 2004

• First results planned for June 2005

• ONS will provide annual estimates for UA/LADs

subject to guidance on thresholds

Topics covered by Annual Population SurveyGender Ethnic origin Economic status

Marital status National identity Employment status

Livingarrangements

Religion Full-time/part-time

Length of residence Country of birth Length of timesince did paid work

Where living 12months ago

Tenure Occupation

Householdcomposition

Highestqualification

Industry

Relationship toother householdmembers

Educational status NS Socio-economicclassification

Use of ethnicity data - government strategy

• ‘Ethnic minorities and the labour market’– Cabinet Office Strategy Unit report, March 2003

• highlighted racial discrimination in the labour market

• emphasised importance of economic integration as well as social/civic integration

• highlighted varied experiences of different minority groups needing different policy responses

ONS publications on ethnicity

• Labour Market Trends, Dec 2002: ‘The new ethnicity classification in the LFS’

• Labour Market Trends, forthcoming: ‘Exploring ethnic minority disadvantage in the labour market’

• Social Focus in Brief: Ethnicity, Dec 2002

• Census 2001 - population tables by ethnic group

• Social Focus in Brief: Inequality: forthcoming

• Focus on Ethnicity, Focus on Religion: forthcoming