ESRC Methods FestivalResources to Analyse Occupations

and Social Class: The NS-SEC

David RoseDavid RoseInstitute for Social and Economic ResearchUniversity of Essex

OverviewOverview

(1) NS-SEC categories

(2) NS-SEC derivation

(3) Constructing the NS-SEC

The NS-SECThe NS-SEC

1 Higher managerial and professional occupations

(1.1 Large employers and higher managerial)

(1.2 Higher professional)

2 Lower managerialand professional occupations

3 Intermediate occupations

4 Small employers and own account workers

5 Lower supervisory andtechnical occupations

6 Semi-routine occupations

7 Routine occupations

8 Never worked and long-term unemployed

Categories of the Operational Version of the NS-SEC

L1 Employers in Large Establishments L10 Lower Supervisory Occupations L2 Higher Managerial Occupations L11 Lower Technical Occupations L3 Higher Professional Occupations L11.1 Lower technical craft occupations L3.1 ‘Traditional’ employees L11.2 Lower technical process operative occupations L3.2 ‘New’ employees L12 Semi-routine Occupations L3.3 ‘Traditional’ self-employed L12.1 Semi-routine sales occupations L3.4 ‘New’ self-employed L12.2 Semi-routine service occupations L4 Lower Professional and Higher Technical

Occupations L12.3 Semi-routine technical occupations

L12.4 Semi-routine operative occupations L4.1 ‘Traditional’ employees L12.5 Semi-routine agricultural occupations L4.2 ‘New’ employees L12.6 Semi-routine clerical occupations L4.3 ‘Traditional’ self-employed L12.7 Semi-routine childcare occupations L4.4 ‘New’ self-employed L13 Routine Occupations L5 Lower Managerial Occupations L13.1 Routine sales and service occupations L6 Higher Supervisory Occupations L13.2 Routine production occupations L7 Intermediate Occupations L13.3 Routine technical occupations L7.1 Intermediate clerical & administrative occupations L13.4 Routine operative occupations L7.2 Intermediate service occupations L13.5 Routine agricultural occupations L7.3 Intermediate technical & auxiliary occupations L14 Never Worked and Long-term Unemployed L7.4 Intermediate engineering occupations L14.1 Never worked L8 Employers in Small Establishments L14.2 Long-term unemployed L8.1 Employers in small establishments in industry,

commerce, services, etc. L15 L16

Full-time Students Occupations not stated or inadequately described

L8.2 Employers in small establishments in agriculture L17 Not classifiable for other reasons L9 Own Account Workers L9.1 Own account workers (non-professional) L9.2 Own account workers in agriculture

Collapsing the NS-SEC (1)Collapsing the NS-SEC (1)Operational categories Eight (Nine) Class Five Class Three Class

L1 Employers in large establishments

L2 Higher managerial occupations

1.1 Large employers and higher managerial occupations

1.2 Higher professional occupations

1 Managerial and professional occupations

1 Managerial and professional occupations

L3 Higher professional occupations

L4 Lower professional and higher technical

occupations L5 Lower managerial

occupations

L6 Higher supervisory occupations

2 Lower managerial and professional occupations

L7 Intermediate occupations

3 Intermediate occupations

L8 Employers in small establishments

L9 Own account workers

4 Small employers and own account workers

2 Intermediate occupations 2 Intermediate

occupations

Analytic variables

3 Small employers and own account workers

Collapsing the NS-SEC (2)Collapsing the NS-SEC (2)Operational categories Eight (Nine) Class Five Class Three Class

L10 Lower supervisory occupations

L11 Lower technical occupations

5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 3 Routine and manual

occupations

L12 Semi-routine occupations

6 Semi routine occupations

L13 Routine occupations 7 Routine occupations

L14 Never worked and long-term unemployed

8 Never worked and long-term unemployed

Never worked and long-term unemployed

Analytic variables

4 Lower supervisory and technical occupations

Never worked and long-term unemployed

5 Semi-routine and routine occupations

The Derivation of the NS-SECThe Derivation of the NS-SEC

Basic SEC PositionsBasic SEC Positions

EMPLOYERSEMPLOYERS SELF-EMPLOYEDSELF-EMPLOYEDWORKERSWORKERS

EMPLOYEESEMPLOYEES EXCLUDEDEXCLUDED

LabourLabour

Form of Form of employment employment regulationregulation

ServiceService IntermediateIntermediate

Supervisors, Supervisors, lower technical lower technical semi-routine, semi-routine, routineroutine

IntermediateIntermediateProfessionals Professionals managersmanagers

LargeLarge SmallSmall Never Never workedworked

Long-term Long-term UnemployedUnemployed

Self-employedSelf-employed

(1.1) (1.2,2,4) (1.1) (1.2,2,4) (4) (4) (1.1,1.2,2) (1.1,1.2,2) (3) (3) (5,6,7) (5,6,7) (8) (8) (8)(8)

Validation studiesValidation studies

(a) CRITERION VALIDATION

Do measures of employment relations discriminate between the categories of the NS-SEC?

(b) CONSTRUCT VALIDATION

How well does the NS-SEC explain variance in theoretically relevant dependent variables?

SummarySummary

• NS-SEC is first a conceptual construction (hence NS-SEC is a schema)

• To operationalise the schema we need an algorithm to a detailed set of occupation-by-employment status units

Constructing the Derivation Matrix (1)

Information required on:

1. occupation: coded to SOC2000 OUG;

2. employment status;

3. number of persons in the establishment (0, 1-24, 25+).

Reduced & Simplified versions of Reduced & Simplified versions of NS-SECNS-SEC

Reduced NS-SEC - if no information on establishment size

Simplified NS-SEC - if data only onoccupation

NS-SEC Household ClassNS-SEC Household Class

EITHER Highest Income Householder

OR ‘Dominant’ position in labour market

Advantages of the NS-SECAdvantages of the NS-SEC

• Conceptually clear and rigorous

• Simple to create

• Flexible in use

• Easier to maintain

• Better explanatory tool

Key Texts on NS-SEC

• D. Rose and D. Pevalin (2003) A Researcher’s Guide to the NS-SEC, Sage

• D. Rose and D. Pevalin with K. O’Reilly (2005) The NS-SEC: Origins, development and Use, Palgrave Macmillan

• ONS (2005) The NS-SEC User Guide, Palgrave Macmillan