GB Historical DB

1921 Male and Female Occupational Statistics for Local Govt. Districts

Table ID:
OCC_1921     (1251949)
Contents:
1921 Male and Female Occupational Statistics for Local Govt. Districts
Approx. number of rows:
5,480
Table type:
Raw Data
Documentation Author:
Humphrey Southall
Geography:
Reporting units are identified by:
   Administrative County
   Local Government District
   Local Government District Type
Chronology:
The data are for the single year 1921.

Sources:

  1. The data are taken from the county reports of the 1921 census, combining information from Table 16, 'Occupations by Sex of Persons aged 12 years and over' for 'Administrative County, Aggregates of Urban and of Rural Districts, and Urban Areas with more than 20,000 Population'; and Table 17, 'Occupations (Condensed List) by Sex' for 'Urban Areas with less than 20,000 Population'. This is a complete transcription of the main part of table 17, but not of the appended table, without a separate number, which lists selected major groups for each district; and it is a very selective transcription of table 16, limited to the information given in the much simpler table 17. The full table 16 provides a much more detailed occupational classification, similar to occ_1931_lg_t.

Notes:

  1. The 1921 report gave a detailed tabulation of occupations for each county as a whole, the aggregate of urban districts, the aggregate of rural districts, and for each urban area with more than 20,000 population. A much simpler listing was given for each rural district and each urban area of under 20,000 population, using the 32 broad categories into which the detailed occupational classification was organised. The table in the database is therefore a complete transcription of the latter tables combined with a partial transcription of the data for larger urban areas.
  2. The 'lg_type' field is essential to identifying units as many urban and rural districts shared a central town and hence a name. There are some peculiarities such as Newcastle on Tyne RD with a population of 5 and Nottingham RD with a population of 6. In all, 34 units had a population of 1000 or less. Seven of these were civil parishes, presumably not forming part of any RD.
  3. The 32 occupational categories vary greatly in specificity, category VII (metal workers) being particularly broad. It is a classification of workers, not industries, and some major industries, such as shipbuilding, are difficult to identify.
  4. The Cambridge Group used these data to place localities into a series of 'environments' based on four alternative dominant sectors. In the listing below, each occupational group is associated with one of these sectors. The 'environments' are then defined as follows:
    • AGRICULTURAL: At least 20% of all employment was in agriculture.
    • PROFESSIONAL: Under 20% of all employment was in agriculture. The percentage of employment in services was greater than the combined percentagein light and staple industry.
    • STAPLE IND: Under 20% of all employment was in agriculture. The combined percentage in light and staple industry was greater than the percentage in the service sector. The percentage in staple industries was greater than the percentage in light industry.
    • LIGHT IND: Under 20% of all employment was in agriculture. The combined percentage in light and staple industry was greater than the percentage in the service sector. The percentage in light industries was greater than the percentage in staple industry.

Checking:

  1. The data were checked to ensure that the sum of I through XXXII equalled 'TOT_OCC'.

Acknowledgments:


We are extremely grateful to the following:

  1. Eilidh Garrett: These data were transcribed and supplied to the database by Eilidh Garrett of the ESRC Cambridge Group. No restrictions have been placed on their use.

Indices:

IndexTypeColumn(s) indexed
occ_1921_idx Unique lg_dist, lg_type, adm_cnty, sex

Columns within table:

ColumnTypeContents
lg_dist Text string (max.len.=74). Name of the Local Government District to which the data refers.
lg_type Text string (max.len.=8). Type of district. Places described as 'City and County of ...' were coded as 'CB'. The City of London is classed, inaccurately, as a London Borough.
adm_cnty Text string (max.len.=28). Name of the Administrative County containing the district.
sex Text string (max.len.=5). Sex: 'F'=Females, 'M'=Male, 'T'=Total. Total values were computed when the table was created using the available data for M and F.
i Integer number. Fishermen (Camb. Grp. Sector='AG').
ii Integer number. Agricultural Occupations (Camb. Grp. Sector='AG').
iii Integer number. Mining and Quarrying Occupations (Camb. Grp. Sector='STAPLE').
iv Integer number. Workers in the treatment of non-metalliferous mine and quarry products (excluding workers in gas works). [Coke making, etc] (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
v Integer number. Makers of Bricks, Pottery and Glass (Camb. Grp. Sector='STAPLE').
vi Integer number. Workers in Chemical Processes; Makers of Paints, Oils, etc. (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT')
vii Integer number. Metal workers (not Electro Plate or Precious Metals) (Camb. Grp. Sector='STAPLE').
viii Integer number. Workers in Precious Metals and Electro Plate (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
ix Integer number. Electrical Apparatus Makers and Fitters (not elsewhere enumerated) and Electricians (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
x Integer number. Makers of Watches, Clocks and Scientific Instruments (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xi Integer number. Workers in Skins and Leather, and Makers of Leather and Leather Substitute Goods (not Boots or Shoes) (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xii Integer number. Textile workers (Camb. Grp. Sector='STAPLE').
xiii Integer number. Makers of Textile Goods and Articles of Dress (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xiv Integer number. Makers of Foods, Drinks and Tobacco (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xv Integer number. Workers in Wood and Furniture (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xvi Integer number. Makers of and Workers in Paper; Printers, Bookbinders, Photographers, etc. (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xvii Integer number. Builders, Bricklayers, Stone and Slate Workers; Contractors (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xviii Integer number. Painters and Decorators (not Pottery) (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xix Integer number. Workers in other Materials (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xx Integer number. Workers in Mixed or Undefined Materials (not elsewhere enumerated) (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xxi Integer number. Persons employed in Gas, Water and Electricity Undertakings (not elsewhere enumerated) (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxii Integer number. Persons employed in Transport and Communications (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxiii Integer number. Commercial, Financial and Insurance Occupations (excluding clerks)(Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxiv Integer number. Persons employed in Public Administration and Defence (excluding Professional Men and Typists) (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxv Integer number. Professional Occupations (excluding Clerical Staff) (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxvi Integer number. Persons employed in Entertainments and Sport (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxvii Integer number. Persons engaged in Personal Service (including Institutions, Clubs, Hotels, etc. (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE')
xxviii Integer number. Clerks and Draughtsmen (not Civil Service or Local Authority); Typists (Camb. Grp. Sector='SERVICE').
xxix Integer number. Warehousemen, Storekeepers and Packers (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xxx Integer number. Stationary Engine Drivers, Dynamo and Motor Attendants (Camb. Grp. Sector='LIGHT').
xxxi Integer number. Other and Undefined Workers (Not used in Camb. Grp. classification).
xxxii Integer number. Retired or Not Gainfully Employed (Not used in Camb. Grp. classification).
pop Integer number. Total population of the district.
main_sec Text string (max.len.=5). Cambridge Group 'Dominant Sector': 'A'=Agriculture, 'L'=Light Industry, 'P'=Professional, 'S'=Staple Industry. For most purposes, the value where sex='T' will be of greatest interest, but values for men and for women were separately computed.
rec_num Integer number. Sequence number keeping rows in correct order.
admc_unit Integer number. ID number for Administrative County containing the unit, as defined in the AUO. Grouping by this ID should provide accurate county totals, including associated County Boroughs.
g_unit Integer number. ID number of the relevant local government district, as defined in the AUO.
tot_occ Integer number. Total employed, computed as the sum of groups I to XXXI.
u_or_r Text string (max.len.=5). Groups types of unit: set equal to U if type is CB, LB, MB or UD, to R if type is RD or CP. Simplifies matching with GIS where towns changed status, eg MB to CB.
ag Integer number. Persons employed in Cambridge AG sector.
light Integer number. Persons employed in Cambridge LIGHT sector.
staple Integer number. Persons employed in Cambridge STAPLE sector.
service Integer number. Persons employed in Cambridge SERVICE sector.