Socio-Economic Group Statistics from the 1961 Census

Table ID:

SOC_1961_EW     (1253053)

Contents:

Socio-Economic Group Statistics from the 1961 Census

Approx. number of rows:

1,470

Table type:

Raw Data

Documentation Author:

Paula Aucott

Geography:

Reporting units are identified by:
   Administrative County
   Local Government District
   Local Government District Type

Chronology:

The data are for the single year 1961.

Sources:

1. The data for England and Wales are taken from special County Reports in the 1961 census entitled 'Occupation, Industry and Socio-Economic Groups', table 5, 'Socio-Economic Group (Numbers and Proportions) of Economically Active Males and Economically Inactive Males (Stating an Occupation)'. This is a transcription from the original tables, which recorded ten percent of the population which we have multiplied by ten to achieve actual population figures.

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Notes:

1. The data covers all local government districts in England and Wales and was entered in Portsmouth in 2001-2.
2. Those not included are the economically inactive who are classified as retired (formally employed who ceased employment and are not expecting to work again), students in educational establishments, those permanently sick and those without paid occupations including housewives and children under compulsory school leaving age.
3. Data for the new towns of Peterlee and Aycliffe in Durham and the Tyneside conurbation centre in Northumberland has been included as separate units, even though these figures have already been included in the district level data.
4. Unlike the 1971 SEG data, the 1961 groups were not sub-divided to permit calculation of the RG's five social classes. This table includes estimates of numbers in each social class based on the assumption that the proportion of each SEG in each class in each local government district would have been the same in 1961 as in 1971. This method will obviously tend to under-estimate social change between 1961 and 1971. Class 1 was identical to SEGs 3 and 4, so this figure is not an estimate. The estimate for class 5 is more reliable than the others because of that class's close relationship with SEG 11. NB the total of these estimated classes will not necessarily equal the total number in the relevant SEGs (1-15) due to rounding errors and the data being sample-based.
5. The identification of the appropriate row in the 1971 data is based on the AUO: where there is a 1971 unit with the same ID as the 1961 unit, it is straightforwardly used. The whole of Greater London was revised in 1965, and for that area the most appropriate successor was identified via our 1961 to 2011 Geography Conversion Table, as the 1971 Boroughs are effectively identical to the 2011 ones: the 2011 Borough to which the largest part of the 1961 district is allocated was selected. Three districts near London have been manually re-assigned. For other parts of the country more work is needed, and in consequence all other districts abolished by 1971 will have null values for class_2, class_3 and class_4. (An earlier version of this table used an ad hoc look-up table to handle the nine northern counties to support a particular piece of research, but that is not currently being used.)
6. This table was originally called soc_1961. It was amended in January 2010 to be soc_1961_ew to reflect more accurately the area covered by the content.

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Checking:

1. The data were checked to ensure the sum of columns G1 to G17 equalled the tot_m15 therefore the data are error-free.
2. The geographical units have been cross-checked against the GBHGIS administrative unit gazetteer to ensure that all units are correctly identified. Each unit has a unique unit ID assigned to it and this can be used to cross-reference against other datasets.
3. Those geographical unit names that did not matched straightforwardly during the cross-checking were double checked against the original tables to verify the transcription accuracy and corrections made accordingly.

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Indices:

Index	Type	Column(s) indexed
soc_1961_ew_pkey	Primary key	rec_num
soc_1961_ew_g_unit_idx	Unique	g_unit, rec_num
soc_1961_ew_idx	Unique	lg_dist, lg_type, adm_cnty, rec_num

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Constraints:

The table has the following associated constraints:

Constraint	Type	Details
soc_1961_ew_pkey	Primary Key	See details above for primary key index

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Columns within table:

Column	Type	Contents
adm_cnty	Text string (max.len.=44).	Name of Administrative County unit as it appeared in the original report.
lg_dist	Text string (max.len.=64).	Name of Local Government District unit as it appeared in the original report.
lg_type	Text string (max.len.=16).	Type of Local Government District.
nation_unit	Integer number.	Unique ID number for container unit where nation.
cnty_unit	Integer number.	Unique ID number for county unit.
g_unit	Integer number.	Unique ID number for local government district unit.
tot_m15	Integer number.	Total Males (Occupied and Retired) aged 15 and over.
g1	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 1: 'Employers and managers in central and local government, industry, commerce etc - large establishments.' Those employing others or who generally plan and supervise non-agricultural enterprises of 25 people and more.
g2	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 2: 'Employers and managers in industry, commerce etc. - small establishments.' Those employing others or who generally plan and supervise non-agricultural enterprises employing under 25 persons.
g3	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 3: 'Professional workers - self-employed.' Self-employed engaged in work normally requiring university degree standard qualifications.
g4	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 4: 'Professional workers - employees.' Employees engaged in work normally requiring university degree standard qualifications.
g5	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 5: 'Intermediate non-manual workers.' Employees not exercising general planning or supervisory powers, engaged in non-manual occupations ancillary to the professions, not normally requiring university degree standard qualifications; persons engaged in artistic work not employing others thereat and persons engaged in group 6 occupations but with additional and formal supervisory function.
g6	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 6: 'Junior non-manual workers.' Employees not exercising general planning or supervisory powers engaged in clerical, sales and non-manual communications and security occupations, excluding those with additional and formal supervisory functions.
g7	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 7: 'Personal service workers.' Employees engaged in service occupations caring for food, drink, clothing and other personal needs.
g8	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 8: 'Foremen and supervisors - manual.' Employees (other than managers) who formally and immediately supervise others engaged in manual occupations, whether or not themselves engaged in such occupations.
g9	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 9: 'Skilled manual workers.' Employees engaged in manual occupations which require considerable and specific skills.
g10	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 10: 'Semi-skilled manual workers.' Employees engaged in manual occupations which require slight but specific skills.
g11	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 11: 'Unskilled manual workers.' Other employees engaged in manual occupations.
g12	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 12: 'Own account workers (other than professional).' Self-employed persons engaged in any trade, personal service or manual occupation not normally requiring training of university degree standard and having no employees other than family workers.
g13	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 13: 'Farmers - employers and managers.' Persons who own, rent or manage farms, market gardens or forests, employing people other than family workers in the work of the enterprise.
g14	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 14: 'Farmers - own account.' Persons who own or rent farms, market gardens or forests and having no employees other than family workers.
g15	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 15: 'Agricultural workers.' Employees engaged in tending crops, animals, game or forests, or operating agricultural or forestry machinery.
g16	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 16: 'Members of armed forces.'
g17	Integer number.	Number of males aged 15 and over in socio-economic group 17: 'Indefinite.' Persons with inadequately stated occupations.
tot_class	Integer number.	The total for the five estimated social classes. This value should normally equal the total for SEGs 1 to 15, but may not due to rounding errors.
class_1	Integer number.	Derived number of males aged 15 and over in Social Class 1 (Professional, etc Occupations) This social class consists entirely of SEGs 3 and 4, and could therefore be computed precisely, without reference to 1971 data.
class_2	Integer number.	Derived number of males aged 15 and over in Social Class 2 (Intermediate Occupations). This was estimated by assuming that the proportion of a given SEG in class 2 in 1961 in a particular LGD was the same as the equivalent proportion for the same LGD or its successor in the 1971 SEG data. The value will be null if the district no longer existed in 1971 and no successor district was identified.
class_3	Integer number.	Derived number of males aged 15 and over in Social Class 3 (Skilled Occupations). This was estimated by assuming that the proportion of a given SEG in class 3 in 1961 in a particular LGD was the same as the equivalent proportion for the same LGD or its successor in the 1971 SEG data. The value will be null if the district no longer existed in 1971 and no successor district was identified.
class_4	Integer number.	Derived number of males aged 15 and over in Social Class 4 (Partly Skilled Occupations). This was estimated by assuming that the proportion of a given SEG in class 4 in 1961 in a particular LGD was the same as the equivalent proportion for the same LGD or its successor in the 1971 SEG data. The value will be null if the district no longer existed in 1971 and no successor district was identified.
class_5	Integer number.	Derived number of males aged 15 and over in Social Class 5 (Unskilled Occupations). This was estimated by assuming that the proportion of a given SEG in class 5 in 1961 in a particular LGD was the same as the equivalent proportion for the same LGD or its successor in the 1971 SEG data. If the district no longer existed in 1971 and no successor district was identified, it was computed more crudely as class_5 = G11 + (G2 * 810/138830) + (G12 * 6970/85720). The weights used here are taken from the national totals in the 1971 SEG/class data, and are (a) the proportion that G2_1_V was of G2 and (b) the proportion that G12_V was of G12. NB in 1971 G11 made up 96% of class 5 nationally, so even the latter method should be fairly accurate.
rec_num	Integer number.	Unique number identifying row in table.