Social Classification: The Making of the NS-SEC

1. Social Classification: The Making of the NS-SEC David Rose Institute for Social and Economic Research University of Essex http://iserwww.essex.ac.uk/home/rosed

2. Overview • Conceptual basis of NS-SEC (2) Criterion validation of NS-SEC (3) Constructing the NS-SEC using SOC2000

3. 1 Higher managerial and professional occupations (1.1 Large employers and higher managerial) (1.2 Higher professional) 2 Lower managerial and professional occupations 3 Intermediate occupations 4 Small employers and own account workers 5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 6 Semi-routine occupations 7 Routine occupations 8 Never worked and long-term unemployed The NS-SEC

4. Categories of the Operational Version of the NS-SEC

5. Collapsing the NS-SEC (1) Analytic variables Operational categories Eight (Nine) Class Five Class Three Class L1Employers in large establishments L2Higher managerial occupations 1.1Large employers and higher managerial occupations 1.2Higher professional occupations 1Managerial and professional occupations L3Higher professional occupations 1 Managerial and professional occupations L4Lower professional and higher technical occupations L5Lower managerial occupations L6Higher supervisory occupations 2Lower managerial and professional occupations L7 Intermediate occupations 2 Intermediate occupations 3 Intermediate occupations 2 Intermediate occupations L8Employers in small establishments L9Ownaccountworkers 4 Small employers and own account workers 3 Small employers and ownaccountworkers

6. Collapsing the NS-SEC (2) Analytic variables Operational categories Eight (Nine) Class Five Class Three Class L10Lower supervisory occupations L11Lower technical occupations 5Lower supervisory and technical occupations 4 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 3 Routine and manual occupations 6Semi routine occupations 5 Semi-routine and routine occupations L12Semi-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 Never worked and long-term unemployed

7. Conceptual basis for the NS-SEC(Goldthorpe) • Employment relations and conditions are central to delineating the structure of socio-economic positions in modern societies

8. Basic SEC Positions EMPLOYERS SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED The Derivation of the NS-SEC

9. Typical elements of the Labour Contract • Short-term exchange of money for effort • Payment by the time or piece • No occupational pension or health scheme • Contract easily terminated • Low level of job security

10. Typical elements of the Service Relationship • Long-term exchange of service for compensation • Greater job security and employability • Salary • Incremental or similar payment systems • Occupational pension and health schemes • Greater control over the job and thus trust between employer and employee

11. Basic SEC Positions EMPLOYERS SELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS EMPLOYEES EXCLUDED Form of employment regulation Service Intermediate Labour Large Small Self-employed Professionals managers Intermediate Supervisors, lower technical semi-routine, routine Never worked Long-term Unemployed The Derivation of the NS-SEC (1.1) (1.2,2,4) (4) (1.1,1.2,2) (3) (5,6,7) (8) (8)

12. Validation 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?

13. Criterion validation MEASURES OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS 1 form of remuneration 2 career opportunities 3 autonomy with regard to time Three conceptually separable respects in which employment relations are differentiated according to whether a service relationship or labour contract prevails

14. Summary (1) • 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

15. Summary (2) How well the NS-SEC schema is operationalised depends upon two things: (a) how closely the basic occupational and employment status classifications available map onto the categories of the NS-SEC (i.e. adequacy of the derivation matrix) (b) how much information is available relevant to the construction of the algorithm linking these classifications to the schema (i.e. issues of criterion validity)

16. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (1) Information required on: • occupation: coded to SOC2000 OUG; • employment status; • number of persons in the establishment (0, 1-24, 25+).

17. The NS-SEC Derivation Matrix

18. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (2) • The derived employment status variable (say, empstat) is created by combining data on whether an individual is an employer, manager, self-employed or an employee; size of establishment; and supervisory status. • The full set of categories and associated values of empstat is thus: Employer with 25 or more employees; Employer with less than 25 employees; Self-employed with no employees (own account worker); Manager in an establishment with 25 or more employees; Manager in an establishment with less than 25 employees; Supervisor; Employee

19. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (3) • Managers may only be allocated to occupations in SOC Major Group 1 (Managers and Senior Officials). This negates the need to ask for self-reported managerial status. • Respondent only needs to be asked whether s/he has formal supervisory duties or is an employee. This information should either not be collected or be ignored for managers.

20. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (4) The derivation routine for the employment status variable varies with SOC major group. If the OUG is in major group 1 then data are needed on • whether self-employed or employee and • size of establishment. The size of establishment data can be collapsed prior to or during the derivation. If the OUG code is in major groups 2-9 then data are needed on • self-employed or employee • size of establishment and • supervisory status

21. Derivation of empstat for managers (SOC Major Group 1)

22. Derivation of empstat for SOC Major Groups 2-9

23. Allocation to NS-SEC Derivation Matrix Note: in row 2, column 5, this OUG has been allocated to 5 for lower managerial occupations, despite an establishment size of 25+. We noted earlier that the size variable could be over-ridden for some managerial occupations. Similarly, the supervisor and employee codes are overridden for managers in rows 1 and 2. A manager is a manager is a manager…

24. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (5) • The rows of the NS-SEC derivation matrix are the OUGs of SOC2000 and the columns are the employment status derived variable. • The structure of the matrix reflects the distinction made in SOC2000 between managers and other employees. Managers are coded to major group 1 only. • Accordingly in the matrix the managerial cells are only valid for SOC codes 1111 to 1239. • As a corollary, for these managerial OUGs the cells for other employees (including supervisors) are invalid. • For SOC major groups 2 to 9, it is the managerial cells that are invalid, as managers in these occupations should be coded to major group 1.

25. Example illustration of parts of the NS-SEC derivation matrix

26. Constructing the Derivation Matrix (6) In practice, ONS does not leave empty cells in the matrix. Instead, they use editing rules to force codes into empty cells. Thus:

27. Reduced & Simplified versions of NS-SEC Reduced NS-SEC - if no information on establishment size Simplified NS-SEC - if data only on occupation

28. NS-SEC Household Class EITHERHighest Income Householder OR ‘Dominant’ position in labour market

29. Advantages of the NS-SEC • Conceptually clear and rigorous • Simple to create • Flexible in use • Easier to maintain • Better explanatory tool