Work Quality and Wider Circumstances of UK Workers: Syntax From a Multidimensional UK Quality of Work Index, Together With Indicators for Conversion Factors and the Capability Set, 2012-2013 to 2020-2021

Stephens, Thomas C. (2025). Work Quality and Wider Circumstances of UK Workers: Syntax From a Multidimensional UK Quality of Work Index, Together With Indicators for Conversion Factors and the Capability Set, 2012-2013 to 2020-2021. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857836

An ESRC funded PhD research project based at the Department of Social Policy and the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the LSE, to apply the Capability Approach to the way we understand and measure labour market advantage and disadvantage.

Data description (abstract)

This collection consists of the syntax (using R) for generating individual and household-level data on 7 dimensions and 14 indicators of multdimensional work quality from a new UK Quality of Work (QoW) index using Understanding Society and the Labour Force Survey. It also contains detailed data on workers' personal, family and household circumstances - conceptualised using the Capability Approach as their Conversion Factors and Capability Set.

This will potentially be useful for researchers interested in the working conditions and work quality of paid workers in the UK, and also the circumstances under which they access this work - such as the commitments they have to manage alongside paid work (Conversion Factors); and estimates of the choice (Capabilities) they have over alternative work and non-work activities.

The data covers all regions and nations of the UK from Waves 4 (2012-13), Waves 6, Waves 8, Waves 10, and Waves 12 (2020-21) of Understanding Society. Everyone in paid work, or away from a paid job they usually do at the time interviewed, is included in the index, so the data release contains an unweighted (non-independent) total of 108,973 observations. Both employees and self-employed workers are included in the index, with three of the indicators also capturing data on all workers' jobs and not just their main job. The data can be analysed at individual- or household-level, and will be useful for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the quality of working life in the UK.

The UK QoW index captures many aspects of peoples' work quality. The seven dimensions are Earnings, Insurance, Security, Autonomy & Voice, Work-life balance, Prospects and Health & Safety. Within these dimensions, respondents' job quality is coded using a mix of binary, categorical and continuous indicators: Earnings Equity and Earnings Sufficiency (Earnings dimension); Pensions (Insurance); Continuous Employment and Composite Security (Security); task Autonomy and Collective Voice (Autonomy & Voice); Employee Flexibility and Excessive Hours (Work-life balance); Managerial Duties, Short-term Prospects and Long-term Prospects (Prospects); and Work Fatalities, Work Accidents and Work Illnesss (Health & Safety). A set of alternative weighting methods for aggregating the indicators into an index is also included in the data release, alongside imputed and non-imputed data for missing cases in each wave. Whilst most of the data is drawn from survey answers to Understanding Society, I also introduce information on workers' job prospects and health and safety into the index by matching with data on workers' Standard Industrial Classifications (SICs) and Standard Occupational Classifications (SICs) from the Labour Force Survey and Health and Safety Executive, and from Department for Education Working Futures surveys, respectively. I also take advantage of the longitudinal nature of Understanding Society to create an indicator of workers' length of continuous employment with the same employer.

In addition, the deposit includes a rich amount of detail on the wider circumstances of this same sample of workers. Using household and family-level data, a set of Conversion Factors are computed calculating workers' wider family and life commitments which they have to manage alongside paid work - including their health, caring responsibilities, disabilities and. A set of measures of workers' economic, social and cultural & human capital - including their home ownership, assets, skills and social connections are also included. These are conceptualised as proxies for workers' Capability Set - i.e. the choice workers have over alternative opportunities inside and outside the labour market, other than their chosen work activity.

This code has been developed as part of an ESRC-funded PhD thesis on 'Work and Wellbeing in Modern Britain: An Application of the Capability Approach' (2025). This R code is therefore provided open access (CC BY SA 4.0). However to replicate this analysis, researchers will need to download Understanding Society from the UK Data Service, and re-run the R syntax - this data is safeguarded and so not supplied in this data deposit, and is only available subject to signing up to UKDA's conditions for data access. For the dimensions on Health and Safety and long-term prospects, users will also need to access the Labour Force Survey through the UK Data Service and link to the API of Working Futures via 'LMI for All', respectively.

Downloads

Altmetric