Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Skills Survey is a series of nationally representative sample surveys of individuals in employment aged 20-60 years old (since 2006, the surveys have additionally sampled those aged 61-65). The surveys aim to investigate the employed workforce in Great Britain. Although they were not originally planned as part of a series and had different funding sources and objectives, continuity in questionnaire design has meant the surveys now provide a unique, national representative picture of change in British workplaces as reported by individual job holders. This allows analysts to examine how various aspects of job quality and skill levels have changed over 30 years.The first surveys in the series were carried out in 1986 and 1992. These surveys also form part of this integrated data series, and are known as the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative (SCELI) and Employment in Britain (EIB) studies respectively.The 1997 survey was the first to collect primarily data on skills using the job requirements approach. This focused on collecting data on objective indicators of job skill as reported by respondents. The 2001 survey assessed how much had changed between the two surveys and a third survey in 2006 enhanced the time series data, while providing a resource for analysing skill and job requirements in the British economy at that time. The 2012 survey aimed to again add to the time series data and, coinciding as it did with a period of economic recession, to provide insight into whether workers in Britain felt under additional pressure/demand from employers as a result of redundancies and cut backs. In addition, a series dataset, covering 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2012 is also available . A follow-up to the 2012 survey was conducted in 2014, revisiting respondents who had agreed to be interviewed again. The 2017 survey was the seventh in the series, designed to examine to what extent pressures had continued as a result of austerity and economic uncertainties triggered, for example, by Brexit as well as examining additional issues such as productivity, fairness at work and the retirement intentions of older workers.Each survey comprises a large number of respondents: 4,047 in the 1986 survey; 3,855 in 1992; 2,467 in 1997; 4,470 in 2001; 7,787 in 2006; 3,200 in 2012; and 3,306 in 2017.
The Skills and Employment Surveys Series Dataset, 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2012 and 2017 combines data from all seven surveys in the series, where common survey questions were asked. For each survey, weights are computed to take into account the differential probabilities of sample selection, the over-sampling of certain areas and some small response rate variations between groups (defined by sex, age and occupation). All surveys cover Great Britain except the Skills Survey, 2006 which covers the United Kingdom. The surveys are all available separately from the UK Data Archive: Social Change and Economic Life Initiative Surveys, 1986-1987 (SN 2798)Employment in Britain 1992 (SN 5368)Skills Survey 1997 (SN 3993)Skills Survey 2001 (SN 4972)Skills Survey 2006 (SN 6004)Skills and Employment Survey 2012 (SNs 7465 and 7466)Skills and Employment Survey 2017 (SNs 8580 and 8581) A Special Licence access version of this combined dataset including finer detailed geographical variables including (Travel To Work Area, or TTWA) is also available under Special Licence (SN 8590).An earlier Skills and Employment Surveys Series Dataset, covering 1986, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2012 is available under SN 7467.
Main Topics:
The main topics include: skills at workjob qualitytraining and skills developmentterms and conditions of employment
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Compilation/Synthesis
Face-to-face interview
