Social Classification: The Making of the NS-SEC David Rose Institute for Social and Economic Research University of Essex

Overview (1)Conceptual basis of NS-SEC (2)Criterion validation of NS-SEC (3)Constructing the NS-SEC using SOC2000

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

Categories of the Operational Version of the NS-SEC

Collapsing the NS-SEC (1) Operational categoriesEight (Nine) ClassFive ClassThree Class L1 Employers in large establishments L2 Higher managerial occupations 1.1 Large employers and higher managerial occupations 1.2 Higher professional occupations 1 Managerial and professional occupations 1 Managerial and professional occupations L3 Higher professional occupations L4 Lower professional and higher technical occupations L5 Lower managerial occupations L6 Higher supervisory occupations 2 Lower managerial and professional occupations L7 Intermediate occupations 3 Intermediate occupations L8 Employers in small establishments L9 Own account workers 4 Small employers and own account workers 2 Intermediate occupations Analytic variables 3 Small employers and own account workers

Collapsing the NS-SEC (2) Operational categoriesEight (Nine) ClassFive ClassThree Class L10 Lower supervisory occupations L11 Lower technical occupations 5 Lower supervisory and technical occupations 3 Routine and manual occupations L12 Semi-routine occupations 6 Semi routine occupations L13 Routine occupations 7 Routine occupations L14 Never worked and long-term unemployed 8 Never worked and long-term unemployed Never worked and long-term unemployed Analytic variables 4 Lower supervisory and technical occupations Never worked and long-term unemployed 5 Semi-routine and routine occupations

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

The Derivation of the NS-SEC Basic SEC Positions EMPLOYERSSELF-EMPLOYED WORKERS EMPLOYEESEXCLUDED

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

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

The Derivation of the NS-SEC Basic SEC Positions EMPLOYERSSELF-EMPLOYEDWORKERSEMPLOYEESEXCLUDED Labour Form of employment regulation ServiceIntermediate Supervisors, lower technical semi-routine, routine Intermediate Professionals managers LargeSmall Never worked Long-term Unemployed Self-employed (1.1) (1.2,2,4) (4) (1.1,1.2,2) (3) (5,6,7) (8)(8)

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?

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

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

Summary (2) (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) How well the NS-SEC schema is operationalised depends upon two things:

Constructing the Derivation Matrix (1) Information required on: 1.occupation: coded to SOC2000 OUG; 2.employment status; 3.number of persons in the establishment (0, 1-24, 25+).

The NS-SEC Derivation Matrix

Constructing the Derivation Matrix (2) 1.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. 2.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

Constructing the Derivation Matrix (3) 1.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. 2.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.

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 1.whether self-employed or employee and 2.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 1.self-employed or employee 2.size of establishment and 3.supervisory status

Derivation of empstat for managers (SOC Major Group 1)

Derivation of empstat for SOC Major Groups 2-9

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…

Constructing the Derivation Matrix (5) 1.The rows of the NS-SEC derivation matrix are the OUGs of SOC2000 and the columns are the employment status derived variable. 2.The structure of the matrix reflects the distinction made in SOC2000 between managers and other employees. Managers are coded to major group 1 only. 3.Accordingly in the matrix the managerial cells are only valid for SOC codes 1111 to As a corollary, for these managerial OUGs the cells for other employees (including supervisors) are invalid. 5.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.

Example illustration of parts of the NS-SEC derivation matrix

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:

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

NS-SEC Household Class EITHER Highest Income Householder ORDominant position in labour market

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