Economic activity status (13 categories)

Description: People aged 16 years and over are economically active if, between 15 March and 21 March 2021, they were: * in employment (an employee or self-employed) * unemployed, but looking for work and could start within two weeks * unemployed, but waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted

It is a measure of whether or not a person was an active participant in the labour market during this period. Economically inactive are those aged 16 years and over who did not have a job between 15 March to 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February to 21 March 2021 or could not start work within two weeks.

The census definition differs from International Labour Organization definition used on the Labour Force Survey, so estimates are not directly comparable.

This classification splits out full-time students from those who are not full-time students when they are employed or unemployed. It is recommended to sum these together to look at all of those in employment or unemployed, or to use the four category labour market classification, if you want to look at all those with a particular labour market status.

Quality information: As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using Labour Market data for planning purposes.

Comparability with 2011: Broadly comparable. We changed some of the wording on the Census 2021 questionnaire and removed some of the options that people could choose from.

Ethnic group (9 categories)

Description: The ethnic group that the person completing the census feels they belong to. This could be based on their culture, family background, identity or physical appearance. Respondents could choose one out of 19 tick-box response categories, including write-in response options.

Comparability with 2011: Broadly comparable. The question about the ethnic group people feel they belong to is self-identified and is subjectively meaningful to the person answering the question. This means that how a person chooses to identify can change over time. We have included a new Roma category next to the Gypsy or Irish Traveller tick-box within the White category. We have also added a write-in option for those selecting African within the Black, Caribbean or Black British category. This means that a more specific ethnic background could be recorded.