'Women in the Northern Ireland Labour Market' by Gillian Robinson and Fran Porter[Key_Events] [KEY_ISSUES] [Conflict_Background] WOMEN: [Menu] [Reading] [Summary] [Background] [Main_Pages] [Statistics] [Sources] The following publication has been contributed by the authors Gillian Robinson and Fran Porter with the permission of the publishers. The views expressed in this chapter do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the CAIN Project. The CAIN Project would welcome other material which meets our guidelines for contributions.
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Women in the Northern Ireland A Guide to Data Sources and Gillian Robinson ISBN 1 85923 038 5 Centre for Research on Women September 1995
Contents Preface Introduction Data Sources:
Census of Population Useful Addresses
PREFACE The business of obtaining good quality information on the current working lives of women, let alone reliable trend information, remains frustratingly difficult. The data sources are many; the extent to which they count women are varied; and the way in which women are included is not always satisfactory. Above all, it is often necessary to have a detailed knowledge of how data sources are produced and for whom before one can begin to seek them out and use them with real confidence. This publication has been brought together on the conviction that we need more users, and more diverse users of survey data in Northern Ireland. In particular, more women need to become directly involved both in making use of what is available and, where necessary, in pressing for those modifications of data collection strategies and of data classification strategies that will help to make aspects of women's working lives more visible and give women a clearer place on the public agenda. In making the decision to spend time pulling together the information which is between these covers, we in the Centre for Research on Women at the University of Ulster were hoping to do more than to produce a booklet that would sit on the shelves of university libraries. We wanted to help to empower people to find out for themselves - giving them a brief guide to the complexity of official statistics, to the routes by which access not just to the published tables, but to unpublished information also can be obtained. In itself this publication will not answer questions of 'who?' and 'how many?', but it will give vital clues as to where the answers might lie. We hope that users of this booklet will include not only researchers and students in higher education, but teachers, senior pupils, journalists and broadcasters, and members of a wide range of occupations whose business it is better to understand the changing social structures in which they live and work. The many enquiries that we have received in the CROW since its inception seven years ago persuaded us early on to produce a bibliographic guide to the then existing research on women in Northern Ireland (P Montgomery and C Davies, Womens Lives in Northern Ireland Today, CROW, 1990). That publication proved to be very popular and has run to several reprints. It has helped to persuade us of the usefulness of this new venture. If you have comments on the booklet, if you feel there are ways in which we could make it more helpful to users, we would be pleased to hear from you. Celia Davies
INTRODUCTION For those of us interested in women in the labour market in Northern Ireland there is a wealth of data around. The difficulty is knowing where to look. A simple first step might be to look at official publications such as the Northern Ireland Annual Abstract of Statistics published by HMSO. In the Labour section details are given on the civilian workforce broken down for men and women. Regional Trends also provides information on Northern Ireland. However these summary statistics are rarely enough for the serious student, researcher or journalist and this booklet is intended to guide you to where you can actually get your hands on data relevant to your research interests. Knowing where to look is only one part of the problem however. Being clear on what exactly we are talking about is another problem. The concepts of economic activity and unemployment for example are complex and subject to different interpretations. Unemployment is especially difficult when we consider women as many will not consider themselves unemployed when busy with childminding and home care duties. Furthermore, these concepts can be measured in slightly different ways. For example, if we are interested in women's economic activity rates we find considerable variation in the rates claimed in different articles and publications. By and large these are all correct but have been estimated in a variety of ways. They may use different population bases: some look at all women over 16 years of age; other studies only look at women of working age, that is 16-59 years; yet other studies concentrate on women aged 18 years or older. To understand the issues facing women in the labour market it is necessary to be clear about the concepts we are studying and to know exactly who we are talking about. This booklet hopes to clearly identify what is being measured in the sources we have selected. You will not find details on every piece of research conducted in Northern Ireland in this guide. The sources we have selected include all regular and continuous surveys of relevance to women in the labour market. By regular and continuous we mean surveys that are conducted on a regular basis over a period of years. For example the Census of Population is conducted every 10 years while the Northern Ireland Social Attitudes survey is conducted annually, excluding years when there is a general election. Together with this survey material we have included sources drawn from administrative returns, the most important being the Unemployment Claimant Count based on administrative returns from Social Security offices. We also include two one-off surveys, The Northern Ireland Fertility Survey and The Women's Working Lives Survey, because of their particular relevance to women. How to use this guide Each of the 14 sources of data on women in the labour market listed in this guide is formatted in a similar way. Summary information is provided under headings many of which are self-explanatory. The box on page iv gives further details on some of the headings. It may be helpful to consider the following examples which demonstrate how to use this guide to find the data source most appropriate to your research needs. Example 1: You are interested in women in the labour market since 1990 and are particularly interested in women's pay. A quick search through the guide looking under the Date and Variables for Women headings will identify the Labour Force Survey and the New Earnings Survey as your best bets. Example 2: Your thesis will examine the issue of working mothers and attitudes towards them. Again a very quick search will reveal that the Northern Ireland Social Attitudes Survey and the Women's Working Lives Survey contain material of interest to your topic. Example 3: Your paper wants a feature article on women's unemployment and you are interested in reporting not just the official figures from the unemployment count. The Labour Force Survey provides self-reported unemployment figures. We hope you will find this guide useful and straightforward to use. However, if you do have special needs that are not addressed by the information in this publication do contact the agency involved. All the relevant addresses and contact numbers are listed at the back.
DATA SOURCE: Census of Population (CoP) The CoP is a population count classified according to a number of characteristics. These include employment details for all adults aged 16 and over. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Census Office (Northern Ireland) (CO(NI)). DATE/FREQUENCY: Decennial since 1951 previously 1937 and 1926. Also mid-term census in 1966. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Census of Population - decennial since 1841 plus 1966 mid-term census. Responsibility of Offices of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) and the General Register Office (Scotland) (GRO(S)). SAMPLE FRAME: Universal. SAMPLE DESIGN: No sampling, whole frame is used. SAMPLE SIZE: Whole population. RESPONSE RATES: Compulsory: 99% in 1991; 97% in 1981 (see under limitations). RESPONDENT: Head or joint head of households or household members aged 16 or over; individuals aged 16 or over; and persons in charge of communal establishments. METHODOLOGY: Self-completion questionnaire. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: For 1991: Employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); hours worked; area of place of work; mode of transport to work; distance to work; qualifications; age; marital status; religion. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: Whole data is not available. For 1991 CoP have access to: a) the Sample of Anonymised Records (SAR) which contain a 2% file of individuals and a 1% hierarchical file of households (these samples do not overlap) taken from 100% coded NI data; and b) the Small Area Statistics (SAS) at Enumeration District (ED) level. SARs can be accessed directly on-line from Census Microdata Unit (CMU) at Manchester Computing Centre (MCC) at the University of Manchester by Higher Education Institutions (HEI) who are registered users of the SARS. Alternatively some HEI may receive and hold the data themselves. Each individual user must also complete a User Registration form available from the HEI. SAS are held by the Census Dissemination Unit (CDU) at MCC, academic use being governed by a User Registration System. Each individual user registers either with CDU if accessing data on-line or with the HEI which holds SAS data locally. (A class registration form is available for use in teaching students.) To use both SARs and SAS directly on-line to MCC each individual user must also be registered with MCC and obtain their own MCC user name on Cray (either via local computer centre or MCC). SARs and SAS are available at nominal charge (for cost of documentation) to academic users for teaching or research. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: If the required variables are not available in SAS then the CO(N1) will produce commissioned tables as appropriate. They can also supply a combined SAS data set for any given combination of EDs. This service is available for previous years' census data. PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: Series of reports published by HMSO on census data. In particular: Economic Activity Report; Workplace and Transport to Work Report; Summary Report; Belfast Urban Area Report (1991 only); Religion Report; Education Report; Irish Language Report (1991 only). LIMITATIONS: Different questions or variations in wording or response categories make temporal comparisons within Northern Ireland difficult as does the change in geography of EDs each year. There were certain difficulties surrounding the 1971 and 1981 CoP which mean that their results "should be treated with considerable circumspection, particularly when used in time series" (Compton P A (1993) "Population Censuses in Northern Ireland: 1926-1991 " in Dale A and March C (eds) The 1991 Census User's Guide, London, HMSO). For further details see this chapter. GENERAL NOTES: NI/GB comparison possible. A harmonised UK version
of 1991 SARS has been produced. Contact the CDU at MCC. DATA SOURCE: Northern Ireland Labour Force Survey (NILFS) The main purpose of the LFS is to collect comparable data on the behaviour and characteristics of the workforce at a point in time in each country and region of the European Union (EU). The NI LFS is the most comprehensive continuous survey on women and employment containing a wealth of data in this regard. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). Field work carried out by Statistics and Social Division of the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP); data is processed and tabulated by the Offices of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS); statistical analysis and publication is carried out by DED. DATE/FREQUENCY: Annually each spring from 1983 (previously biennially from 1973). Quarterly from Winter 1994 (provisional date). COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Labour Force Survey (LFS) - annually each spring from 1983 (previously biennially from 1973). Also quarterly since March 1992. Responsibility of the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: Rating Valuation list excluding commercial units and known institutions. SAMPLE DESIGN: Random selection from 3 sample strata (since 1987 - prior to this wards were also selected): Belfast District Council area; East of the Province (most of Antrim, Down and part of Armagh); and West of the Province (remainder of Northern Ireland). SAMPLE SIZE: Approximately one per cent of domestic properties, i.e. about 5,200 addresses. RESPONSE RATES: Around 84% (over 4,000 households involving 8,000-9,000 adults over the age of 16). RESPONDENT: Adults aged 16 or over in selected private households or (from 1993) resident in NHS hospital accommodation and (from 1993) students aged 16 or over living in halls of residence or boarding schools. METHODOLOGY: Questionnaire administered by interviewer. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); pay (from 1993); number of hours worked; employment experience; unemployment and inactivity; education and training; labour mobility; health and disability, Also general and demographic including information on household size and composition, and (for 1984, 1986 and from 1990) religion. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: Data (from 1975) is deposited in Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive. To obtain the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). The NI LFS in its entirety is included in the UK LFS results which are held on-line at Manchester Computing Centre (MCC) and is available at nominal charge to academic users. To access this on-line in addition to contacting the Data Archive as outlined above, each individual user must register with MCC and obtain their own MCC user name on Cray (either via local computer centre or MCC). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: Annual Statistics Notices are available free from Statistics Branch of DED who also produce additional gendered tables giving qualifications, age, SIC, and SOC. From 1990 an annual Labour Force Survey Religion Report is available free from Room 260, Statistics and Social Division of PPRU. Some gendered NI figures are included in the annual HMSO publication produced by OPCS on the LFS available from HMSO bookshops. LIMITATIONS: Religion is not included in the datasets deposited in the ESRC Data Archive or at MCC although it will be included in the data for the quarterly surveys. The DED may be approached regarding access to the religion data for annual surveys. GENERAL NOTES: LFS is conducted annually in all member states
of the EU. For further information contact: Eurostat, Statistical Office
of the European Communities, Batiment Jean Monnet, rue Alcide De Gasperi,
L- 2920, Luxembourg-Kirchberg. Tel: 43011, Telex: Comeur Lu 3423. Publications
of EUROSTAT materials in English are available from HMSO Books (PC 16),
HMSO Publications Centre, 51 Nine Elms Lane, London, SW8 5DR. Tel: 0171
873 9090, Fax: 0171 873 8463. DATA SOURCE: Continuous Household Survey (CHS) The main purpose of the CHS is to provide government departments with continuing information on the social and economic situation of the Northern Ireland population. It provides much data regarding the employment, education and income of women aged 16 and over. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Policy Planning Research Unit (PPRU) of the Department of Finance and Personnel (NI). DATE/FREQUENCY: Continuous from 1983. Conducted over a calender year until the end of 1988, over a financial year since April 1989. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: General Household Survey (GHS) carried out by the Offices of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS). SAMPLE FRAME: NI Rating Valuation List. SAMPLE DESIGN: From 1985 on a simple random design was used, the sample having first been stratified in 3 regions to ensure proportional sampling across NI. (In 1983 and 1984 electoral wards were first selected before sampling households within these wards.) SAMPLE SIZE: 4,500 households. RESPONSE RATES: 78% of effective sample; for individuals within cooperating households response ranges from 83% to 86%. RESPONDENT: All individuals aged 16 and over within each private household selected. METHODOLOGY: Interviewer administered questionnaire consisting of 2 parts: a) household schedule completed by household head or their spouse; b) individual schedule completed by each individual aged 16 or over (where an individual cannot be interviewed directly a limited amount of "proxy" information is collected from another household member). VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Regarding employment: employment status; Standard Industrial Classification Groups (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); pay; hours worked; details of second job; the last occupation of those currently not employed; length of current period of unemployment; socio-economic group; social class; father's occupation. Regarding education: the age left school/college; educational qualifications (including CSE examinations and apprenticeships); details of current part-time education. Also data on national insurance and state benefits being received. Additional variables that may be of interest are family information on the number, sex, and date of births of children born to all married women along with anticipated fertility of all women under the age of 45. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: The 1983 CHS data is lodged with the Economic and Social Research Centre (ESRC) Data Archive. Years 1984-87 will be available by the end of 1994 (provisional date) and subsequent years are being prepared for depositing with the archive. in due course. To obtain the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: PPRU publish a series of monitors on the CHS which are available free from the Central Survey Unit at PPRU. Also available are occasional papers on specific topics. LIMITATIONS: As some information is gained by proxy this reduces the survey's reliability. GENERAL NOTES: The sample can be aggregated over several years thereby enabling analyses on sub-groups that would otherwise be too small. The design of CHS data sets as lodged with ESRC Data Archive is such
as to be compatible with GHS data sets. DATA SOURCE: Northern Ireland New Earnings Survey (NINES) This is a sample survey of employees in employment. Its main purpose is to obtain annual information on the levels, distribution and make-up of employees' earnings in all industries and occupations. This data is collected separately for men and women enabling comparison of earnings across industries, regions and genders. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). DATE/FREQUENCY: Annually in April since 1971 COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: NES carried out by the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: All employees (aged 16+) on a PAYE scheme - uses Inland Revenue PAYE records. SAMPLE DESIGN: Since 1975 used a one per cent representative sample comprising of all those with National Insurance Card numbers ending with a specific pair of digits (14). About 73% of the total sample are included in successive surveys - named the matched sample. SAMPLE SIZE: Approximately 4,500. RESPONSE RATES: Consistently 90% plus (approximately 4,000). RESPONDENT: Employers. METHODOLOGY: Postal survey. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); total gross earnings (per week); hours worked (per week); components of earnings (e.g. overtime, incentive payments etc); normal/overtime hours; area of employment. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: The data is not deposited in any archive but held by the DED who may be approached for further information. A detailed study using NINES from 1968-1983 (1968 was a pilot survey) by R D Harris is lodged at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive. To obtain access to this the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: Available from DED on request to bona fide researchers and subject to constraints on statistical significance: matched sample results; greater breakdown by occupation and earnings; "grossing-up" factors. PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: The Northern Ireland New Earning Survey Summary of Results are available free from Room 103, Statistics Research Branch, of the DED approximately 6 months after the survey. The results are restricted to figures derived from a sufficiently large number of employees. Also available on request from DED are: tables relating to median, quartiles and deciles of weekly and hourly earnings by industry (including and excluding overtime) and by sex; distribution of weekly earnings by industry for women, men and those on adult rates; and distribution of earnings by occupation. LIMITATIONS: The sample excludes: employees earning below the tax threshold (ie mainly part-time workers); those in domestic service; persons working for their spouses; occupational pensioners; non-salaried directors; clergy holding pastoral appointments. GENERAL NOTES: The survey counts employees not persons therefore a person with more than one job may be included twice. Similarly a person with two low paid part-time jobs may not appear at all. The survey relates to a specific pay period (week) in April each year and concerns money earned for that pay period only. Changes in the timing of pay settlements each year may have a slight impact on NINES results and this must be taken into account when considering annual changes.
DATA SOURCE: Northern Ireland Family Expenditure Survey (NIFES) The FES monitors the expenditure of households in Northern Ireland, this data being used in respect of the Retail Price Index. It also collects information on members' income and other characteristics of each household. It provides information on women's earnings and income. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Policy Planning and Research Unit (PPRU) of the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP). DATE/FREQUENCY: Annual from 1967. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Family Expenditure Survey (FES) from January 1957 carried out by the Employment Department (ED) up to 1988 and from 1989 by the Central Statistical Office (CSO). SAMPLE FRAME: NI Rating Valuation List. SAMPLE DESIGN: From mid-80's a simple random selection from 3 sample strata (Belfast District Council, West of the Province, East of the Province). SAMPLE SIZE: 1,200. RESPONSE RATES: Steady decline from 80% in 1967 to 53% in 1989. From 1991 60%+. RESPONDENT: Household members aged 16 or over. METHODOLOGY: Interviewer administered questionnaire plus a self-completion diary of expenditure over 14 consecutive days by each adult aged 16 or over. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Pay; income; religion (from 1988). ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: The data is deposited in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive and is available in SIR or SPSS format. There are special conditions which require the details of the proposal research to be submitted. To obtain the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: PPRU produce a series of monitors on the NIFES available from their Central Survey Unit. LIMITATIONS: The overall low response rates means there are different response rates by social and economic category and hence problems of reliability. From 1992 onwards income totals, housing expenditure and total expenditure cannot be compared with that of earlier years as up to 1991 these variables were based on imputed data which was discontinued from 1992. GENERAL NOTES: From 1968 the UKFES (held at the ESRC Data Archive
and at Manchester Computing Centre (MCC)) includes only a random sample
of NIFES data. DATA SOURCE: Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) This surveys personal incomes which are subject to income tax. It gives information for those women in Northern Ireland whose personal income exceeds the lower tax threshold. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Inland Revenue (IR). DATE/FREQUENCY: Annual (over financial year) since 1962/63. Prior to this the survey was carried out quinquennially. Northern Ireland figures are available for all post war surveys. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: SPI carried out by the IR. SAMPLE FRAME: Computerisation of PAYE (COP) and Computerisation of D Assessment (CODA) databases of the IR and (from 1990-91) their database of claimants. SAMPLE DESIGN: COP is stratified by sex, marital status (men only) and pay/occupational pension income for previous year and sampling fractions vary from 1 in 2000 to 1 in 3; CODA is stratified by previous year's taxable income with sampling fractions varying from 1 in 600 to 1 in 10; database of claimants uses a 1 in 100 random sample. SAMPLE SIZE: 60,000. Quinquennial surveys were much larger - often over 1,000,000 cases. RESPONSE RATES: 100% RESPONDENT: Tax case - either single person or married couple from 1962/63 - 1989/90. Each individual (regardless of marital status) from 1990/91. METHODOLOGY: Information taken from computerised databases from 1988/89. Previously taken from inland Revenue offices' tax return records. This information is supplemented by individual tax retums where appropriate. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Income (single women only to 1989/90); marital status (from 1990/91); geographical areas (from 1991/92). ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: While the 1985/86 data is lodged at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive it is not possible to extract regional data for NI. However the Statistics and Economics Office (S&E0) of the IR may be approached directly regarding providing an anonymised data set. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: There are no routinely published results that provide gendered NI figures. LIMITATIONS: Incomplete coverage of investment income. Excludes incomes below the tax threshold; married women are included with their spouse up to 1989/ 90. GENERAL NOTES: 1990/91 was the first year of independent taxation
and the presence of married women as taxpayers in their own right. DATA SOURCE: Census of Employment (Northern Ireland) This census Provides information on the number of employees in employment by both detailed industrial sector and geographical area. It collects information on the number of full and part-time jobs by gender, location and industrial activity. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). DATE/FREQUENCY: Every 2-3 years (in September) since 1981 (1993, 1991, 1989, 1987, 1984, 1981), annually from 1971-1978. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Census of Employment undertaken by the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: From 1993 drawn directly from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR). Prior to this the census used the Inland Revenue records of employers' PAYE schemes. SAMPLE DESIGN: No sampling, the whole frame is used. SAMPLE SIZE: Over 43,000 data units (i.e. workplaces) and over 30,000 reporting units (i.e. firms' addresses where employers hold their pay records). RESPONSE RATES: Census of Employment is a statutory census. Around 98% of reporting units. RESPONDENT: Employers. METHODOLOGY: Postal questionnaire. Non-response is pursued by telephone for all employers with 5 or more employees and a 10% sample of firms with less than 5 employees. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Number of jobs by employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); public/private sector; changes in employment over time. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: There are plans to deposit
the data with the National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS) beginning
with the most recent census (no date available,). Users must register with
NOMIS, and are charged forthe cost of manuals and for usage (invoiced quarterly).
Academic accounts may only be used for personal academic research purposes
or for economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded grants and projects.
Commercial accounts are available for other purposes. Access will be subject
to constraints of confidentiality and need to be authorised by DED. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: By request from DED: data by Travel to Work Area (TTWA), district council and ward, subject to confidentiality constraints. In general data are not published or released if any of the information relates to less than 5 individual undertakings. PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: Figures for NI as a whole by
industrial sector, gender and full/part-time employment are presented in:
LIMITATIONS: Excludes: the self-employed; agricultural sector; armed forces; homeworkers; those in private domestic service. Also excludes firms who only employ staff with earnings below the income tax threshold. However those staff are included if they work in firms with employees within the tax threshold. The effect is to exclude mainly part time workers in the retail sector and these will mainly be women. GENERAL NOTES: Jobs rather than the number of persons in jobs
are recorded in the Census. Therefore an employee with more than one job
will be recorded twice. The Census of Employment is used to revise the
Quarterly Employment Survey which was particularly necessary prior to December
1992 before this latter survey was itself revised (see Quarterly Employment
Survey). DATA SOURCE: Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) The QES is carried out to provide regular information on employment between Censuses of Employment. It provides data on the number of jobs employing women by industrial sector and employment status. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). DATE/FREQUENCY: Quarterly (March, June, September, December) since 1978. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Short Term Survey of manufacturing industries monthly and other industries quarterly carried out by the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: From December 1992 the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) developed by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) in GB to use in national accounts and employer-based censuses and surveys in the United Kingdom. Prior to this the most recent Census of Employment. SAMPLE DESIGN: Private sector enterprises (excluding agriculture) with 25 or more employees (both single-activity and multi-activity firms) and (since December 1992) a sample of firms with 1 to 10 and 11to 24 employees. Also all public sector enterprises. SAMPLE SIZE: 1,900 reporting units (RUs) up to December 1992. From December 1992 and once a year, around 8-9,000 RUs, the other quarters involving 4,000 RUs. RESPONSE RATES: 99.9%. RESPONDENT: Employers. METHODOLOGY: Self-completion questionnaire forwarded and returned by post (or simply postal questionnaire). Reminders are sent by letter and telephone to non-respondents. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: the number of jobs by employment status (from December 1992); Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); public/private sector; changes in employment over time. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: The QES data is held on-line at the National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS) (Dataset GTI5 Employment Estimates). Users must register with NOMIS, and are charged for the cost of manuals and for usage (invoiced quarterly). Academic accounts may only be used for personal academic research purposes or for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded grants and projects. Commercial accounts are available for other purposes. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: A Statistics Notice is published at the end of each quarter (these include the figures for Agriculture provided by the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (DANI)) and is available free from Room 122 of the Statistics Research Branch of the DED. LIMITATIONS: Excludes: the self-employed; agricultural sector; armed forces; homeworkers; those in private domestic service. Also excludes firms who only employ staff with earnings below the income tax threshold. However those staff are included if they work in firms with employees within the tax threshold. The effect is to exclude mainly part time workers in the retail sector and these will mainly be women. Up to December 1992 only involves firms with 25 or more employees (this covers 75% of employees). GENERAL NOTES: Jobs rather than the number of persons in jobs
are recorded in the QES. Therefore an employee with more than one job will
be recorded twice. Prior to December 1992, including only firms with 25
or more employees meant the results tended to both underestimate employment
gains and overestimate employment losses amongst smaller firms. Published
results therefore were revised with information from the Censuses of Employment
as available. The new QES used from December 1992 aims to improve reliability
and coverage and to obtain results within 1% of the Census of Employment
thereby needing minimum revision. DATA SOURCE: October Manuals Survey (OMS) The OMS (sometimes called the October Earnings Survey) was a voluntary survey carried out as one of the 3 main sources of Northern Ireland earning statistics to obtain the average hours and earnings of manual employees by industry. This information is available for women in manual employment (full-time figures only). RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). DATE/FREQUENCY: Annually in October 1970-1991 (since discontinued). (Periodically since 1886). COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: OMS (discontinued 1990) carried out by the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: All establishments with more than 10 employees from the following: all manufacturing industries (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) divisions 2-4); part of the water and supply industries (SIC classes 15-17); transport and communications except sea transport (SIC division 7 excluding class 74). SAMPLE DESIGN: No sampling, whole frame is used. SAMPLE SIZE: RESPONSE RATES: 92% in 1990. RESPONDENT: Employers. METHODOLOGY: Postal questionnaire. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: For full-time employees: SIC; average gross wages; average hours worked. None of these are available for postal services and telecommunications class nor any of the categories in which the class appears. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: The data is not deposited in any archive but held by the DED who may be approached for further information. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: The Statistics Research Branch of the DED produced gendered tables which are available free from them by request: average weekly earnings by grouped class (£ per week); average hours worked by grouped class; average hourly earnings by grouped class (pence per hour) - all on full-time basis and giving all UK regions. The last one available is for 1990. LIMITATIONS: There is no occupational breakdown nor main components of gross earnings (i.e. overtime etc) given. This latter is covered in the New Earnings Survey. A significant proportion of manuals are not covered in the survey and employers found it increasingly difficult to distinguish between manual and non-manual. GENERAL NOTES: Following a review of OMS in GB in 1991, the OMS
in NI (and GB) was discontinued after the 1991 survey. As there were no
comparisons with GB for 1991, no results from the 1991 NI survey were published.
DATA SOURCE: Unemployment Claimant Count Each month figures of those unemployed and in receipt of benefit are routinely collected and analysed. As these statistics are gendered they give information on these unemployed women throughout Northern Ireland. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Department of Economic Development (DED). DATE/FREQUENCY: Monthly. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: Unemployment Claimant Count carried out by the Employment Department (ED). SAMPLE FRAME: From October 1982 all claimants registered with Social Security Offices (SSO) and receiving unemployment benefit, income support or national insurance credits. Prior to October 1982 all unemployed persons registered for work at employment services. SAMPLE DESIGN: No sampling, whole frame used. SAMPLE SIZE: RESPONSE RATES: 100% RESPONDENT: SSO staff. METHODOLOGY: From February 1994 claimant details obtained by electronic transfer of data from the National Unemployment Benefit System (NUBS) to the central computer system. Up to January 1994 details were sent by SSO to DED for processing. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Age; marital status; travel to work areas (TTWA); other geographical areas; duration of unemployment. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: Each month data is released to the National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS) and is immediately available. Users must register with NOMIS, and are charged for the cost of manuals and for usage (invoiced quarterly). Academic accounts may only be used for personal academic research purposes or for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded grants and projects. Commercial accounts are available for other purposes. The Statistics Research Branch of DED retains 25 months of unemployment data on magnetic tape which can be accessed using SPSS - confidentiality constraints determine the level of detail that can be released. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: The DED issue a monthly press notice and a seasonally adjusted series (back to 1971). Also available from the Statistics Research Branch of the DED by request are monthly tables routinely produced which include data by District Council, ward and parliamentary constituency; information regarding industry (up to February 1994) and flows. The Employment Gazette has gendered area statistics (TTWA, parliamentary constituencies, counties and local authority districts) for NI each month and on a quarterly basis (March, June, September, December) also has gendered age-duration analysis for NI. The Employment Gazette is published monthly and is available from their Subscription and Sales Department - £4.95 per issue or £52.50 (including postage) for an annual subscription. LIMITATIONS: Due to Social Security eligibility criteria many women out of work will not be entitled to benefits and are consequently excluded. Males aged 60 and over receive automatic national insurance credits without registering at SSO since June/August 1983 and will therefore not be included in the figures. GENERAL NOTES: DATA SOURCE: Fair Employment Commission (FEC) Monitoring Returns These are undertaken to monitor the religion composition of the workforce. This monitoring is carried out by gender and there are therefore statistics available for the religious background of women in the workforce. RESPONSIBILITY OF: FEC. DATE/FREQUENCY: Annual from 1990. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: SAMPLE FRAME: The FEC register of employees which comprises private sector enterprises with more than 10 employees (from 1992, for 1990 and 1991 those with more than 25 employees) and all public sector concerns. SAMPLE DESIGN: No sampling. SAMPLE SIZE: Around 70% of the workforce. In 1993 a total of 3,906 concerns and 380,439 employees. RESPONSE RATES: Compulsory. RESPONDENT: Employers. METHODOLOGY: Employers submit annual monitoring returns. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); Public/Private sector; Religion. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: There is no open access to the data. However the FEC may be approached with specific requests for access. ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: An annual report A Profile of the Northern Ireland Workforce: Summary of the Monitoring Returns (with results by gender and containing 90% of the findings) is published by the FEC and is available from them, price £5. LIMITATIONS: Excludes: the self-employed; those on government training schemes; the unemployed; those who work less than 16 hours per week; school teachers; private sector enterprises with 10 or less employees. GENERAL NOTES: The monitoring returns also cover the community composition of applicants and appointees in private sector enterprises with more than 250 employees and all in the public sector. For 1993 this covered more than 322,200 applicants and almost 31,500 appointees. The religion composition monitored is usually based on one of three
main criteria: the primary school mainly attended; all schools attended;
the employee's own written submission of community belonging. DATA SOURCE: Northern Ireland Social Attitudes Survey (NISA) The main purpose of NISA is to monitor and understand trends and changes in society through public attitudes, values and beliefs. It deals with the attitudes of women and men to work and work related issues in varying depth in each survey. The main areas covered in each survey to date are indicated below. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR) have overall responsibility, Policy Planning Research Unit (PPRU) (sampling and field work) and the Centre for Social Research at The Queen's University of Belfast (special analyses). The survey is funded by government through the Inter-Departmental Social Steering Group. DATE/FREQUENCY: Annual from 1989 (excluding years in which a general election is held - to date 1992). COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA) - annual from 1983 (excluding years in which a general election is held - to date 1987 and 1992). Responsibility of Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR). See Jowell R, Brook L, Prior G, Taylor B (eds) (1992) British Social Attitudes: The 9th Report, Dartmouth, Aldershot. SAMPLING FRAME: NI rating list excluding commercial units and known institutions. SAMPLE DESIGN: Households selected using an unclustered, simple random sample design and individuals within each household also chosen by random selection procedure (using a computer generated Kish grid). SAMPLE SIZE: 1,400 in anticipation of achieving 1,000 completed interviews (for 1989-1993). For 1994 2,400 addresses were drawn and two versions of the questionnaire administered. RESPONSE RATES: Varies each year. Around 70% overall and 90% for self-completion unit. RESPONDENT: Adults aged 18 years and over living in private households. METHODOLOGY: Two part: questionnaire administered by an interviewer and a self-completion supplement completed by respondents after interview and either collected or returned by post. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: For each survey the demographic details of each respondent include: employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); pay; number of hours worked; unemployment history for previous 5 years; employment of spouse. Other areas covered are attitudes to own job (1991); gender and job type (1991); equal opportunities in respect of job opportunities. pay and promotion (1991); women and work in relationship to marriage and child care issues (1991); sex discrimination law (1990); fair employment/work related community issues (1989); mobility and work (1989); wages (1989); experience of and feelings about work (1989). ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: Each year's data set is held at the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Data Archive. A fully documented combined data set of NISA 1989-1991 is also available. To obtain the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in-the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: An annual edited book is published. To date: Stringer P and Robinson G (eds) (1991) SocialAttitudes in Northern Ireland 1990-1991, Belfast, Blackstaff; Stringer P and Robinson G (eds) (1992) Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland The Second Report, Belfast, Blackstaff; Stringer P and Robinson G.(eds) (1993) Social Attitudes in Northern Ireland TheThird Report, Belfast, Blackstaff. LIMITATIONS: Comparisons cannot necessarily be made yearly as modules are repeated every 2-3 years or less frequently. There are small numbers of women making subgroup analyses difficult. There is no spatial dimension for analyses. GENERAL NOTES: Comparison is possible not only with GB (core
units and some modules in British questionnaire are the same as NIs) but
internationally as the self-completion supplement to the questionnaire
contains the module designed for the International Social Survey Programme
(ISSP). Work orientations was the subject in 1989 and involved 14 countries
including the Republic of Ireland (the number of participating countries
has since increased and in 1993 was 21). Information about ISSP and some
results are available in Jowell R, Brook L, Dowds L (eds) (1993) International
Social Attitudes: the 10th BSA Report, Aldershot, SCPR, Dartmouth Publishing
Company. Details of each country's data are available directly from the
body responsible for the ISSP module in each country, addresses in Appetidix
1 of Jowell et al.(1993). Some of the international data is archived
at the University of Cologne, contact: Rolt Uher, Zentralarchiv fur Empirische
Sozialforschung, Bachemer Strasse 40, 5000 Koln 41, Germany. DATA SOURCE: Northern Ireland Fertility Survey (NIFS) The NIFS was the first survey of its kind in Northern Ireland regarding fertility, family planning and related socio-economic and cultural variables. It explores the relationship between women's employment and their fertility and family planning. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Jointly funded by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Policy Planning and Research Unit (PPRU) of the Department of Finance and Personnel. Interviewing was conducted by PPRU staff and data processing by their Social Survey Division. DATE/FREQUENCY: 1983 COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: SAMPLE FRAME: Northern Ireland Domestic Rating Valuation List. SAMPLE DESIGN: A clustered design: 526 electoral wards stratified by area, religion and average family size in 1971 were used and a probability sample proportional to population number was drawn from the clusters selected. SAMPLE SIZE: 8,693. RESPONSE RATES: 63% of effective sample. RESPONDENT: Ever-married women aged 16-59 and single mothers under 60 years of age. METHODOLOGY: Interviewer administered questionnaire. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Employment status; Socio-economic group (SEG); age; year of marriage; education; religion; patterns of employment prior to and after marriage and having children; reasons for not working. ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: Compton P A and Coward J (1989) Fertility and Family Planning in Northern Ireland, Aldershot, Avebury. LIMITATIONS: Household income and not women's earnings is recorded there was a non-response rate of 14% to this question and some women did not know what their household income was. GENERAL NOTES: A separate scaled down version of the questionnaire
concentrating on general attitudes to fertility and family planning was
directed to one husband/partner in 4 and received a 66% response rate.
DATA SOURCE: Women's Working Lives Survey (WWLS) This is a major survey comprehensively examining the issue of women and employment. It explores women's experiences of and attitudes to employment; the extent of and reason for their unemployment and economic inactivity; the influence of women's domestic life on their participation in paid employment; and life cycle influences on women's movement in and out of paid employment. RESPONSIBILITY OF: Equal Opportunities Commission for Northern Ireland (EOC (NI)). DATE/FREQUENCY: 1990. COMPARABLE SOURCE IN GB: WWLS was developed with reference to a number of existing sources, the most significant being the Women and Employment Survey (WES) 1980. See Martin J and Roberts C (1984) Women and Employment: A Lifetime Perspective, London, HMSO. SAMPLE FRAME: 1990 Register of Electors. SAMPLE DESIGN: 2 stage proportionate random sample design: firstly a random selection of required number of wards (I0 in Belfast and 4 in each of the other 25 District Council areas) and then the required number of female electors were drawn. SAMPLE SIZE: 1,684. RESPONSE RATES: 80.5% of effective sample (1,000 women). RESPONDENT: Women aged 18-65 living in private households. METHODOLOGY: Interviewer administered questionnaire. VARIABLES FOR WOMEN: Employment status; Standard Industrial Classification (SIC); Standard Occupational Classification (SOC); pay; number of hours worked. In addition there is comprehensive information on: education; experience of work; previous work history; Trade Union involvement; attitudes to women and work; and domestic issues (home/child care and other dependent relatives). ACCESS TO AND AVAILABILITY OF DATA: Lodged in the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive in SPSS format. Users must send drafts of any reports to EOC (NI). To obtain the data users should contact the Data Archive in order to complete a Data Access Application form and sign an Undertaking form that outlines the conditions of access and use. Most datasets in the Archive have charges only of direct costs (i.e. for materials) for academics providing the research is funded fully or partially by the ESRC or the research is not externally funded and takes place in an establishment of further or higher education (e.g. for purpose of teaching or further degree). ADDITIONAL ANALYSES AVAILABLE: PUBLICATIONS/PUBLISHED RESULTS: Kremer J and Montgomery P (eds) (1993) Women's Working Lives, Belfast, HMSO. LIMITATIONS: Women aged 16 and 17 are not included. GENERAL NOTES: USEFUL ADDRESSES Census Office (Northern Ireland) (CO(N1)) * * * Department of Economic Development (DED) * * * Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Data Archive * * * Employment Gazette * * * Fair Employment Commission (FEC) * * * HMSO Bookshop * * * Inland Revenue (Statistics and Economics Office) * * * MANCHESTER COMPUTING CENTRE (MCC) * * * Census Microdata Unit (CMU) * * * POLICY PLANNING AND RESEARCH UNIT (PPRU) * * * Statistics and Social Division * * * Training and Employment Agency (T&EA) * * * National On-line Manpower Information System (NOMIS) * * *
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CAIN
contains information and source material on the conflict
and politics in Northern Ireland. CAIN is based within Ulster University. |
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