NS Socio-economic Classification (4-way)
| Year | Higher managerial, administrative & professional occupations | Intermediate occupations | Routine & manual occupations | Never worked & long-term unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1841 |
5,397
|
34,008
|
10,869
|
|
| 1881 |
15,933
|
86,225
|
36,710
|
|
| 1931 |
30,061
|
144,343
|
92,074
|
|
| 1971 |
10,703
|
10,083
|
8,016
|
2,917
|
| 1981 |
11,352
|
8,896
|
7,966
|
2,062
|
| 1991 |
11,399
|
5,044
|
5,635
|
262
|
| 2001 |
86,178
|
52,463
|
106,705
|
60,328
|
| 2011 |
185,181
|
76,680
|
129,312
|
93,296
|
| 2021 |
134,445
|
85,915
|
130,195
|
105,668
|
| 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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The 1831 census provides information, down to parish-level, on the occupations of males aged over 20 using nine categories. Here we reorganise this information to provide a crude measure of social status, based more on contemporary ideas than on modern definitions of social class: "middling sorts" combines small farmers not employing labourers with both masters and skilled workers in urban manufacturing and handicrafts.