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Reference
(The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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RG 53
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Title
(The name of the record)
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Office for National Statistics and predecessors: Labour Force Survey: Survey Documents: Registered Papers and Digital Files
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Date
(When the record was created)
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1971-2011
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Description
(What the record is about)
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This hybrid series contains both digital records and registered paper files, including complete sets of blank labour force survey documents.
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Arrangement
(Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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Arrangement
Paper records are arranged chronologically by survey and within each survey in alpha-numeric order.
References for born-digital records are automatically generated and display a 'Z' after a forward slash, which distinguish them from traditional references allocated to paper and digitised records.
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Separated material
(A cross-reference between records that are related by provenance but now kept separately)
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An anonymised version of the surveys in machine readable format is held at the ESCR Data Archive, University of Essex.
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Held by
(Who holds the record)
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The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference
(Former identifier given by the originating creator)
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CEN file series
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Legal status
(A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language
(The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s)
(The creator of the record)
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- Office for National Statistics, 1996-1996
- Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, 1970-1996
- Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Labour Force Survey, 1970-1990
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Physical description
(The amount and form of the record)
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158 paper files and digital records
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Access conditions
(Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Open unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition
(When and where the record was acquired from)
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From 2022 Office for National Statistics
From 1993 Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
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Subjects
(Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
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Labour
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Accruals
(Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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Series is accruing.
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Selection and destruction information
(Information about how the record was selected for archiving)
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The questionnaires from LFS(C) are destroyed after 15 months and those from LFS(A) are destroyed after 5 years.
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Administrative / biographical background
(Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a study of the employment circumstances of the UK population. It is the largest household study in the UK and provides the official measures of employment and unemployment.
The first Labour Force Survey (LFS) was carried out in 1973 at the request of the Statistical Office of the European Economic Community (EEC) and organised throughout the UK by Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) on behalf of the Department of Employment. In England and Wales the survey was carried out by OPCS, in Scotland by the General Register Office (Scotland) and in Northern Ireland by the Department of Economic Development; OPCS took over responsibility for the fieldwork in Scotland in 1988. The survey was designed to provide comparable estimates of employment and unemployment throughout the community, thus enabling the development of consistent social policies.
The information collected from the members of the households at the selected addresses consisted of relationships, ages, marital status, nationality and country of birth, employment, industry and occupation, hours worked, reasons for leaving jobs, how the unemployed are seeking jobs, training and training courses.
From 1973-1981 Social Survey Division (SSD) and Census Field Branch liaised on the survey, with SSD assuming responsibility for the field pilot survey, sample design, training, public relations and interviewing techniques and Census Field in control of recruitment, instructions and the broad training and work loads of field staff. In 1981 SSD took full responsibility for the survey. The survey was carried out every other year from 1973-1983, but from 1984 it divided into 2 operations:- LFS(C) a continuous survey undertaken throughout the year and LFS(A) a survey which takes place in the UK in March, April and May and is to meet EEC requirements. Results from both surveys are combined for March-May for EEC and British Government use.
In 1996, Office of Population Censuses and Surveys merged with the UK Central Statistical Office to form the Office for National Statistics.
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Record URL
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https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13378/