Watford District : NS Socio-economic Classification (4-way)

NS Socio-economic Classification (4-way)

Data cube chart.

Year Higher managerial, administrative & professional occupations Intermediate occupations Routine & manual occupations Never worked & long-term unemployed
1841 83 Show data context 283 Show data context 383 Show data context
1881 1,434 Show data context 5,417 Show data context 3,273 Show data context
1931 3,752 Show data context 16,320 Show data context 7,278 Show data context
1971 1,791 Show data context 1,160 Show data context 892 Show data context 537 Show data context
1981 2,060 Show data context 986 Show data context 814 Show data context 470 Show data context
1991 2,357 Show data context 656 Show data context 774 Show data context 50 Show data context
2001 20,150 Show data context 10,962 Show data context 14,497 Show data context 4,931 Show data context
2011 39,733 Show data context 15,643 Show data context 18,356 Show data context 8,404 Show data context
2021 29,900 Show data context 19,058 Show data context 20,222 Show data context 11,769 Show data context
Date Source
1841 [ERROR: authority is ''SRC'' but auth_note value of does not appear in SRC_TAB]
1881 Great Britain Historical GIS Project Computed from 1881 microdata
1931 1931 Census of England and Wales, Occupations, Table 17 , 'Occupations (condensed list) of Males and Females, showing also the total Operatives and the total Out of Work'
1971 UK Data Service, Census 1971 data (Table SAS23: "SEG and economic position (10% Sample): Economically Active residents")
1981 UK Data Service, Census 1981 data (SAS50: "Socio-Economic group and economic positions (10% Sample): Economically active residents")
1991 Office for National Statistics, NOMIS - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (Table S92 "SEG and economic position (10% sample): Economically active residents)
2001 Office for National Statistics, NOMIS - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (Table UV031, NS-Sec (21 way))
2011 Office for National Statistics, NOMIS - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (Table QS607UK - NS-SeC)
2021 Office for National Statistics, ONS "Create a Custom Dataset" (National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (17 way))

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nCube definition


The early censuses 1801-31 used this very simple classification of occupations. The cemsuses of Great Britain from 1811 onwards applied it to families rather than persons, and all families were included under one of these headings.


How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Watford District through time | Historical Statistics on Social Structure | NS Socio-economic Classification (4-way), A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10056779/cube/NS_SEC_4WAY

Date accessed: 03rd June 2026