The Shropshire labour market – what’s changed since 2011? Census 2021 data released

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the next wave of Census 2021 data last week for England and Wales. This data set focussed on the labour market characteristics at a national level, through to small, local areas called Census output areas.

Census 2021 logo

This data release details the following information:

• The number of people who are economically active
• Whether people are employed or self-employed
• The number of hours people work, and in which industry and occupation
• How people travel to work and how far they travel between home and workplace
• The reasons why people are not in employment
• Levels of unemployment

The Census 2021 took place during the pandemic, a time of unparalleled global change. Issues such as national lockdowns, associated government restrictions and support such as the furlough scheme will have no doubt affected the labour market data in the Census. As a result, identifying long term change since the 2011 Census is challenging, but the data contains many interesting insights.

155,000 usual residents aged 16 years and over in Shropshire were economically active (56.9%), while 113,300 (41.6%) were economically inactive. The national economic activity rate is marginally higher than it is in Shropshire (58.6%).

There are three main types of economic activity status:

• economically active: in employment (an employee or self-employed)
• economically active: unemployed (those who were looking for work and could start within two weeks, or waiting to start a job that had been offered and accepted)
• economically inactive (those who did not have a job between 15 March and 21 March 2021 and had not looked for work between 22 February and 21 March 2021 or could not start work within two weeks)

Among residents aged 16 and over, 149,300 people in Shropshire were in employment. Of these, 118,600 were employees (43.5%) while more than 1 in 10 were self-employed (11.2% or 30,700 people). Levels of self-employment are higher in Shropshire than the England average (9.5%).

6,500 people in Shropshire were unemployed at the time of the 2021 Census (2.4%). This compares with 3.5% of the 16+ national population.

The dominant sector of those employed was the human health and social work industry (24,300 people, 16.0% compared with 14.6% for England) and the broad wholesale, retail, and motor trade industry (15.0% or 22,900 people; 15.0% in England).

Shropshire compared to national averages by sector:

More people in Shropshire were employed in professional occupations compared with any other broad occupation categories (17.6% or 26,800 people compared with 20.3% in England).

The data estimates that 41,500 (27.2%) of usual residents aged 16 years and over in employment in Shropshire worked mainly at or from home in the week before Census Day. This compares with 31.5% in England.

Historically, home working has been more prevalent in rural locations, but the industry sectors in which people are employed had a major impact on home working trends during the pandemic. In Shropshire, more people are employed in sectors where home working is not possible e.g., agriculture, construction and retail.

110,900 usual residents aged 16 years and over in employment in Shropshire (72.8%) were not working “at or from home”. The most selected mode of travel to work was driving a car or a van (54.8% or 83,500). 1,900 used public transport (1.3%) compared with 8.2% in England.

Shropshire residents were more likely to travel significant distances to their workplace than their national counterparts, with 17.4% travelling 20km or further compared with 8.3% in England.

People aged 16 years and over were classified as economically inactive if, in the week before Census 2021, they were not in employment, and not looking for work (or not in a position to take up employment). The reasons why they were economically inactive was recorded as one of the following:

• retired (whether receiving a pension or not)
• studying
• looking after home or family
• long-term sick or disabled
• another reason

A high proportion of the economically inactive population in Shropshire are retired (influenced by the county’s older demographic profile), at 77,600 people or 28.5% of those aged 16 and over. This is notably higher than in England (21.5%).

Shropshire supports fewer students than the national average (3.6% compared with 5.6%), fewer looking after a home or family (3.6% compared with 4.8%), and fewer long-term sick or disabled (3.5% compared with 4.1%).

James Walton, Shropshire Council’s Executive Director of Resources, shared: –

“The Census data is immensely useful to us as an organisation and employer. The data will help us understand the composition of the Shropshire labour market, how trends have changed over the past decade and how we can react accordingly as we navigate the world of work following the pandemic.”

Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care, public health and communities added: –

“Understanding our workforce in Shropshire is really important. The results from this topic in the Census means that we now hold a snapshot image of the county’s labour market which will highlight short- and long-term opportunities and challenges for ourselves and local employers.”

For further information, including an interactive map, and to find out more about the Census 2021 results, visit the ONS website.

Further information and analysis for Shropshire will be added to the Shropshire Council 2021 Census webpages as further results become available.

Please note all figures have been rounded.