NS Socio-economic Classification (4-way)
| Year | Higher managerial, administrative & professional occupations | Intermediate occupations | Routine & manual occupations | Never worked & long-term unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1841 |
5,104
|
20,396
|
15,088
|
|
| 1881 |
7,956
|
38,080
|
21,047
|
|
| 1931 |
11,296
|
46,560
|
23,521
|
|
| 1971 |
4,829
|
4,091
|
3,077
|
1,612
|
| 1981 |
6,745
|
3,951
|
3,492
|
1,427
|
| 1991 |
8,556
|
3,219
|
3,624
|
405
|
| 2001 |
75,746
|
43,606
|
74,437
|
21,612
|
| 2011 |
149,847
|
65,398
|
88,651
|
31,706
|
| 2021 |
114,569
|
80,844
|
103,853
|
44,281
|
| 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)) |
This website exists to help people doing personal research projects on particular areas within a locality. So long as you are using our data for only a small number of units, you are not making money out of what you are doing, and you are not systematically re-publishing our data, you do not need to request permission from us, but you do need to acknowledge us as your source with the wording:
"This work is based on data provided through www.VisionofBritain.org.uk and uses historical material which is copyright of the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and the University of Portsmouth".
Where the above statement is included in a web page or similar online resource, the reference to "www.VisionofBritain.org.uk" must be a working hyperlink.
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.