Analysis Dec06
21/11/06
13:57
Page 409
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Analysis in brief
409
Analysis in brief
The new urban/rural
indicator in the Labour
Force Survey
By Catherine Barham and Nasima Begum, Labour Market Division, Office for National Statistics
■
■
■
■
The Rural and Urban Area
Classification 2004 was first
introduced in the Labour Force
Survey datasets in spring 2005
and is now included every
quarter.
In the three months ending
June 2006 78 per cent of people
aged 16 and over lived in urban
areas and 22 per cent in rural
areas.
Urban areas had a younger age
structure compared with rural
areas. Some 45 per cent of those
living in urban areas were aged
25 to 49 compared with 39 per
cent in rural areas.
The working-age employment
rate was higher in rural areas,
at 78 per cent, compared with
73 per cent in urban areas.
Introduction
rea classifications have been
in existence for some time,
although the majority of
these use socio-economic conditions
to classify areas. An example of this
is the Output Area Classification
which groups together geographic
areas according to key Census
characteristics1.
The need for a new classification
was identified during a review of
urban and rural definitions, which
specifically highlighted the need for
new definitions for rural areas which
were not based on socio-economic
characteristics. The work to develop
a new classification for urban and
rural areas was sponsored by a group
of government departments2 and
carried out by a consortium
consisting of research institutes
and university departments3.
As a result, a new classification (the
Rural and Urban Area Classification
2004) for England and Wales has
been developed which uses a
settlement-based approach. This
A
means that areas are defined
according to the type of settlement
combined with a sparsity score based
on the number of households in the
surrounding areas. A separate
classification has been developed
for Scotland.
Details of the new
classification
The new definition has been
produced for England and Wales
based on hectare grid squares,
using postcode information and
the Department for Communities
and Local Government’s defined
settlement polygons. The two
measurement criteria used in the
creation of the new definitions were:
• Settlement form – each hectare
grid square is associated with a
particular settlement type: dispersed
dwellings, hamlet, village, small
town, urban fringe, and urban
(population of 10,000 or more).
• Sparsity – each hectare grid square
is given a sparsity score based on
the number of households in
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
▼
Key points
Analysis Dec06
21/11/06
13:57
Page 410
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Analysis in brief
▼
410
surrounding hectare squares up to
a distance of 30 kilometres.
The broad structure of the
classification is summarised
in Figure 1.
Rural areas comprise villages,
hamlets and isolated dwellings in
England and Wales. In Scotland,
in addition to these types of area,
accessible or very remote small
towns are also included. Non-rural
areas consist of urban areas with a
population of 10,000 or more, and
town fringe areas. In Scotland both
large and small urban areas are also
classified as non-rural.
Use of the new
classification
As with other standard
classifications, the urban/rural
classification is intended to be used
as a tool for analysis and reporting
Figure
of statistical information. The
classification can be used on any
dataset which is geographically
referenced and can produce results at
Output Area, Super Output Area or
ward level. If a data source is based
on unit postcodes or map references,
then it can be linked with the
classification through a simple
look-up table and a breakdown by
type of urban/rural area produced
for various geographical areas,
subject to limitations of the sample
size. This flexibility of use means
the classification can be used across
sources for comparative analysis.
The method of using both
settlement type and context in
constructing the definition allows
a great deal of flexibility of use as
a result of the range of categories
available. It should be noted,
however, that the strength of the
classification is in its use as a broad
framework for comparing a wide
range of socio-economic indicators.
It is not intended to be used to
look at specific characteristics of
individual areas.
Particular use for
analysis of the labour
market
A range of key statistics using
the new classification has been
published on the National Statistics
website. These use figures from
the 2001 Census and include
information on a range of
demographic and household
topics by the new urban/rural
classification4.
The potential uses of this
classification from a labour market
perspective are considerable.
1
Broad structure of the Rural and Urban Area Classification 2004
Settlement
Urban
Sparse
Rural
Less sparse
Small town and fringe
Sparse
Village
Less sparse
Dispersed
Small town and fringe
Village
Dispersed
Source: Rural and Urban Area Classification 2004: An Introductory Guide
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
21/11/06
13:57
Page 411
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Table
Analysis in brief
1
Number and proportion of people aged 16 and over in urban/rural
areas by sex; Great Britain; April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Total urban
England and Wales
Urban >= 10k – sparse
Urban >= 10k – less sparse
Scotland
Large urban area
Other urban area
Total rural
England and Wales
Town & Fringe – sparse
Town & Fringe – less sparse
Village – sparse
Village – less sparse
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – sparse
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – less sparse
Scotland
Accessible small town
Remote small town
Very remote small town
Accessible rural
Remote rural
Very remote rural
Total
Men
Women
All
(000s)
(000s)
(000s)
(%)
17,437
18,696
36,133
78.4
68
16,079
69
17,186
137
33,264
0.3
72.2
746
545
827
614
1,572
1,159
3.4
2.5
4,767
5,186
9,953
21.6
119
1,825
152
1,397
105
531
141
2,042
164
1,506
106
541
259
3,867
315
2,903
211
1,072
0.6
8.4
0.7
6.3
0.5
2.3
208
29
24
263
59
55
217
34
25
293
60
59
425
63
49
556
119
114
0.9
0.1
0.1
1.2
0.3
0.2
22,204
23,882
46,086
100.0
Source: Labour Force Survey
Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Figure
2
Proportion of people by age in urban/rural areas; Great Britain;
April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
50
Urban
40
Rural
30
20
10
0
16-24
25-49
50-59/64
60+/65+
411
One example would be using the
classification to look at employment
rates for small villages compared
with the national average. An
analysis of this type would also be
able to assess the impact of various
policy initiatives across the range of
settlement types and context.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS)
has used the definitions to produce
an urban/rural indicator variable
(URIND) which has been available
on LFS datasets from spring 2005.
Analysis using the
urban/rural indicator
variable on the LFS
Distribution by age and sex
The urban/rural indicator (URIND)
variable on the LFS can be used
to analyse the distribution of the
population by age and sex. In April
to June 2006 there were 36 million
people aged 16 and over in urban
areas compared with 10 million in
the rural areas, which equates to
78 per cent and 22 per cent
respectively (Table 1). By far the
largest proportion of urban dwellers
were living in areas in England and
Wales classified as ‘urban, less sparse’
which accounted for 72 per cent of
the total GB population (see Box 1
for more description of how areas
are categorised). In rural areas, the
largest numbers of people were
living in areas in England and Wales
classified as ‘town and fringe, less
sparse’ and ‘village, less sparse’.
These areas accounted for 8 per cent
and 6 per cent of the population
respectively.
The distribution by age shows a
younger age structure in the urban
areas compared with the rural areas:
45 per cent of those living in urban
areas were aged 25 to 49 compared
with 39 per cent of those in rural
Source: Labour Force Survey
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
▼
Analysis Dec06
Analysis Dec06
21/11/06
13:57
Page 412
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Analysis in brief
▼
412
areas (Figure 2). This is also true
for the youngest age group, where
15 per cent of those living in urban
areas were aged 16 to 24 compared
with only 11 per cent of those in
rural areas. In comparison, twofifths of those living in urban areas
were aged 50 and over compared
with a half of those in rural areas.
Headline indicators
As mentioned earlier, the advantage
of having this new variable on the
LFS is that it is possible to look at
some headline indicators by a more
detailed urban/rural split. Table 2
shows employment, unemployment
and economic inactivity rates by
the full range of urban and rural
categories. In April to June 2006
there appears to be some variation
between employment rates in urban
areas and the rural areas. The
working-age employment rate for
urban areas was slightly lower than
the rate for rural areas (73 per cent
compared with 78 per cent for
rural areas).
Within England and Wales the
highest employment rate was for
villages classified as ‘less sparse’. The
areas with the lowest employment
rate were those classified as ‘urban
with a population of 10,000 or
more and surrounded by sparsely
populated areas’, where the rate was
71 per cent. Together with the areas
classified as ‘town and fringe –
sparse’, these were also the areas with
the highest inactivity rates, at around
a quarter of the population.
Working characteristics
There are some indications of
differences in the labour market
characteristics of some urban and
rural areas. Figure 3 shows the
proportions working part-time by
the broad urban/rural split and,
although it confirms the well-
Office for National Statistics
Box
1
Definitions
Urban/Rural indicator for England and Wales
England & Wales, Urban>=10k – sparse (Urban)
Output Area (OA) falls within Urban settlements with a population of
10,000 or more and the wider surrounding area is sparsely populated.
England & Wales, Town and Fringe – sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Small Town and Fringe areas category and the wider
surrounding area is sparsely populated.
England & Wales, Village – sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Village category and the wider surrounding area is
sparsely populated;
England & Wales, Hamlet and Isolated Dwelling – sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Hamlet & Isolated Dwelling category and the wider
surrounding area is sparsely populated;
England & Wales, Urban >=10k – less sparse (Urban)
OA falls within Urban settlements with a population of 10,000 or more and
the wider surrounding area is less sparsely populated;
England & Wales, Town & Fringe – less sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Small Town and Fringe areas category and the wider
surrounding area is less sparsely populated;
England & Wales, Village – less sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Village category and the wider surrounding area is less
sparsely populated;
England & Wales, Hamlet & Isolated Dwelling – less sparse (Rural)
OA falls within the Hamlet & Isolated Dwelling category and the wider
surrounding area is less sparsely populated;
Urban/Rural indicator for Scotland
Scotland, large urban area (Urban)
Settlement of over 125,000 people;
Scotland, other urban area (Urban)
Settlement of 10,000 to 125,000 people;
Scotland, accessible small town (Rural)
Settlement of 3,000 to 10,000 people, within 30 minutes drive of a
settlement of 10,000 or more;
Scotland, remote small town (Rural)
Settlement of 3,000 to 10,000 people, with a drive time of 30 to
60 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more;
Scotland, very remote small town (Rural)
Settlement of 3,000 to 10,000 people, with a drive time of over 60 minutes
to a settlement of 10,000 or more;
Scotland, accessible rural (Rural)
Settlement of less than 3,000 people, within 30 minutes drive of
a settlement of 10,000 or more;
Scotland, remote rural (Rural)
Settlement of less than 3,000 people, with a drive time of 30 to 60 minutes
to a settlement of 10,000 or more;
Scotland, very remote rural (Rural)
Settlement of less than 3,000 people, with a drive time of over 60 minutes
to a settlement of 10,000 or more.
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
Analysis Dec06
21/11/06
13:57
Page 413
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Table
Analysis in brief
413
2
Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity rates by urban/rural indicator; Great Britain;
April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
Employment ratea
Unemployment rateb
Economic inactivity ratec
73
6
22
Urban >= 10k – sparse
71
4
25
Urban >= 10k – less sparse
74
6
22
Large urban area
72
6
23
Other urban area
73
7
21
78
4
19
Town & Fringe – sparse
72
3
25
Town & Fringe – less sparse
78
4
19
Village – sparse
75
5
21
Village – less sparse
80
3
18
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – sparse
73
4
23
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – less sparse
78
3
20
76
5
20
Total urban
England and Wales
Scotland
Total rural
England and Wales
Scotland
Accessible small town
Remote small town
71
6
24
Very remote small town
74
*
24
Accessible rural
81
3
16
Remote rural
77
2
21
Very remote rural
80
2
18
74
5
21
Total
Source: Labour Force Survey
a Working-age employment rate as a proportion of the total population.
b 16+ unemployment rate as a proportion of the total economically active.
c Working-age economic inactivity rate as a proportion of the total population.
documented pattern of more women
working part-time than men, it also
indicates that this is more common
in rural areas. In April to June 2006
49 per cent of women in rural areas
worked part-time compared with
11 per cent of men. This compares
with only 41 per cent of women in
urban areas, although the same
proportion of men worked parttime. This difference is also shown in
the proportions of women working
full-time in urban areas: in 2006 59
per cent of women in urban areas
worked full-time compared with
only 51 per cent in rural areas.
Table 3 shows the reasons for
economic inactivity by the
urban/rural indicator and by sex.
In both urban and rural areas
looking after family/home was the
most common reason for inactivity.
A higher proportion of people in
rural areas gave being retired as their
reason for inactivity (13 per cent)
compared with 6 per cent in urban
areas. What is also interesting to note
is that among working-age men the
main reason for inactivity was being
long-term sick or disabled, and the
proportions giving this as their main
reason was higher in urban areas
than in rural: 37 per cent and
31 per cent respectively.
Self-employment appears to be
more common in rural areas
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
▼
* Sample size too small for a reliable estimate.
Analysis Dec06
13:57
Page 414
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Analysis in brief
▼
414
21/11/06
compared with urban areas (Table 4).
In April to June 2006 17 per cent of
those in employment in rural areas
were self-employed compared with
11 per cent in urban areas. Within
the rural areas in England and Wales
the categories classified as ‘hamlets
and isolated dwellings – sparse’
had the largest proportion of
self-employed. On the other hand,
the proportion of employees was
higher overall in urban areas
(89 per cent) compared with rural
areas (83 per cent).
People in employment were most
likely to be employed as managers
and senior officials for both urban
and rural areas (Figure 4). In April
to June 2006 the proportion of
managers and senior officials was
higher in rural areas (18 per cent)
compared with urban areas
(15 per cent). A higher proportion of
people were employed in skilled
trades occupations in rural areas
compared with urban, with
proportions of 12 per cent and
10 per cent respectively.
The working hours of those in
employment may vary according to
a number of factors, including
occupation and the type of area lived
in. Table 5 shows the basic usual
hours worked in the respondents’
main job by urban/rural indicator.
In April to June 2006 a larger
proportion of people worked over
45 hours a week in rural areas
(12 per cent) compared with those
in urban areas (9 per cent). Within
rural areas in England and Wales,
respondents were most likely to be
working long hours in the ‘hamlets
and isolated dwellings – sparse’
category, where around a fifth
worked over 45 hours a week.
Working-age households
The distribution of work across
households can be used to give some
Office for National Statistics
Figure
3
Proportion of people aged 16 and over working part-time
by urban/rural indicator; Great Britain; April to June 2006,
not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
60
All
50
Men
Women
40
30
20
10
0
Urban
Rural
Source: Labour Force Survey
Table
3
Reasons for economic inactivity by urban/rural indicator and sex
for those of working age; Great Britain; April to June 2006,
not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
All
Urban
Rural
All of working agea
Long-term sick or disabled
Looking after family/home
Student
Retired
Other reason
Total
26
29
24
8
13
100
27
29
25
6
13
100
23
29
21
13
14
100
Men aged 16 to 64
Long-term sick or disabled
Looking after family/home
Student
Retired
Other reason
Total
36
6
30
14
15
100
37
6
31
12
15
100
31
5
27
23
14
100
Women aged 16 to 59
Long-term sick or disabled
Looking after family/home
Student
Retired
Other reason
Total
20
45
20
3
12
100
20
45
21
3
11
100
17
44
18
6
15
100
Source: Labour Force Survey
Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.
a Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
21/11/06
13:57
Page 415
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Table
Analysis in brief
4
Proportion of employees and self-employed aged 16 and over
by urban/rural indicator; Great Britain; April to June 2006,
not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
Employee
Self-employed
89
11
Total urban
England and Wales
Urban >= 10k – sparse
91
9
Urban >= 10k – less sparse
88
12
Large urban area
92
8
Other urban area
92
8
83
17
Town & Fringe – sparse
83
17
Town & Fringe – less sparse
87
13
Village – sparse
73
27
Village – less sparse
81
19
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – sparse
64
36
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – less sparse
75
25
Scotland
Total rural
England and Wales
Scotland
Accessible small town
89
11
Remote small town
86
14
Very remote small town
86
14
Accessible rural
86
14
Remote rural
79
21
Very remote rural
79
21
87
13
Total
Source: Labour Force Survey
Figure
indication of the relative wealth of
certain areas. In April to June 2006
there were 13.6 million working-age
households in the urban areas
compared with 3.5 million in the
rural areas. Table 6 shows that there
was a higher proportion of workless
households (those households that
include at least one person of
working age where no-one aged 16
or over is in employment) in urban
areas (17 per cent) compared with
rural areas (12 per cent). Despite this
distinction using the broad
urban/rural split, the category
classified as ‘town and fringe, sparse’
in England and Wales had one of the
highest proportions of workless
households corresponding to a low
proportion of working households
(those households where everyone
aged 16 or over is in employment),
at only 54 per cent.
There was less variation between
urban and rural areas for the
proportion of working households
and mixed households (those
households that contain both
working and workless members).
Some 58 per cent of households in
415
▼
Analysis Dec06
4
Proportion of those in employment aged 16 and over by occupation for urban/rural indicator;
Great Britain; April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Managers and senior officials
Professional occupations
Associate professional and technical
Administrative and secretarial
Skilled trades occupations
Personal service occupations
Sales and customer service occupations
Urban
Process plant and machine operatives
Rural
Elementary occupations
0
Source: Labour Force Survey
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Per cent
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
Analysis Dec06
416
21/11/06
13:57
Page 416
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Analysis in brief
Table
5
Proportion of those in employment aged 16 and over by basic usual hours worked in main job
for urban/rural areas; Great Britain; April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
Less than 6 hours
Total urban
6 up to 15 hours 16 up to 30 hours 31 up to 45 hours
Over 45 hours
Total
1
7
19
64
9
100
Urban >= 10k – sparse
4
9
21
58
8
100
Urban >= 10k – less sparse
1
7
18
64
9
100
Large urban area
1
8
19
65
8
100
Other urban area
1
7
21
65
6
100
2
10
20
57
12
100
England and Wales
Scotland
Total rural
England and Wales
Town & Fringe – sparse
2
9
18
59
13
100
Town & Fringe – less sparse
2
10
20
59
10
100
Village – sparse
1
8
20
55
15
100
Village – less sparse
2
11
20
55
13
100
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – sparse
2
13
20
44
22
100
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – less sparse
3
9
20
53
16
100
Scotland
Accessible small town
1
7
21
62
8
100
Remote small town
*
*
25
58
13
100
Very remote small town
*
*
18
62
14
100
Accessible rural
2
7
19
62
10
100
Remote rural
*
*
22
49
18
100
Very remote rural
*
*
18
57
16
100
2
8
19
62
9
100
Total
Source: Labour Force Survey
Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.
▼
* Sample size too small for a reliable estimate.
the urban areas were working
households compared with 61 per
cent in rural areas. Furthermore,
26 per cent of households in urban
areas were mixed households
compared with 27 per cent in the
rural area.
Conclusion
The results of this analysis show
some indications of differences in
the labour market characteristics in
urban and rural areas. This article
has given only a broad overview of
Office for National Statistics
some of the potential uses of the
new variable in looking at the
characteristics of areas by their
urban/rural classification. What is
clear is that although the broad
urban/rural split is useful in order
to get an idea of general trends,
it sometime masks some quite large
variations which only become
apparent when using the full
classification. Further work is needed
to get a more complete picture of
the labour market characteristics of
urban and rural areas. For example,
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
researchers may want to use the
Annual Population Survey rather
than the LFS as sample sizes
are larger.
Further information
For further information, contact:
Nasima Begum,
Office for National Statistics,
1 Drummond Gate,
London SW1V 2QQ,
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 020 7533 6159.
Analysis Dec06
21/11/06
13:57
Page 417
The new urban/rural indicator in the Labour Force Survey
Table
Analysis in brief
6
Working-age householdsa by combined economic activity status of household for urban/rural indicator;
Great Britain; April to June 2006, not seasonally adjusted
Per cent
Working householdsb
Mixed householdsc
Workless householdsd
All with known status
58
26
17
100
Urban >= 10k – sparse
60
21
19
100
Urban >= 10k – less sparse
57
26
17
100
Large urban area
60
19
20
100
Other urban area
56
23
21
100
61
27
12
100
Town & Fringe – sparse
54
25
21
100
Town & Fringe – less sparse
61
27
13
100
Village – sparse
57
24
18
100
Village – less sparse
62
28
9
100
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – sparse
57
29
14
100
Hamlet & isolated dwelling – less sparse
60
29
10
100
Total urban
England and Wales
Scotland
Total rural
England and Wales
Scotland
Accessible small town
58
25
17
100
Remote small town
59
28
14
100
Very remote small town
61
16
23
100
Accessible rural
65
26
9
100
Remote rural
62
25
13
100
Very remote rural
58
34
8
100
58
26
16
100
Total
Source: Labour Force Survey
Note: Figures may not sum due to rounding.
a A working-age household is a household that includes at least one person of working age (that is a woman aged 16 to 59 or a man aged 16 to 64).
b A working household is a household where everyone aged 16 or over is in employment.
c A mixed household is a household which contains both working and workless members.
d A workless household is a household that includes at least one person of working age where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment.
Notes
1 The Output Area Classification was published in August 2005 and is available on the National Statistics website at
www.statistics.gov.uk/about/methodology_by_theme/area_classification
2 The sponsoring departments were: the Countryside Agency; The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
the Office for National Statistics; the Department for Communities and Local Government (previously the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister) and the Welsh Assembly Government.
3 The consortium consisted of the South East Regional Research Laboratory (SERRL) at Birkbeck College and the
Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield.
4 These key statistics can be found on the National Statistics website at
www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13768
Office for National Statistics
• Labour Market Trends • December 2006
417