Description:

This indicator reports employment of people aged 16 or over within the arts, culture and creative sector.

Substantial changes were made to this indicator in May 2023 to improve the measurement approach. These included changing the data source, broadening the definition of the sector and revising the criteria for change used to gauge the performance of the indicator over time. More information on these changes can be found here.

Source of Data:

The data for this indicator are gathered through the Annual Population Survey (APS). APS is the largest annual household survey in Scotland and provides information about individuals' personal circumstances and their work. It is carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

Results from the Annual Population Survey are published on the Scottish Government website - within the ‘Scotland’s Labour Market: People, Places and Regions' publication.

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Labour-Market/Publications

Important note:  In August 2021, ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) responses for periods April 2019-March 2020 onwards have been weighted to new populations derived using growth rates from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Real Time Information (RTI) to allow for different trends during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This new weighting methodology gives improved estimates of both rates and levels following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure is based on the estimated number of people in employment aged 16 and over in the arts, culture and creative sector from the ONS Annual Population Survey. Industry sector of employment is self-reported by respondents participating in the ONS Annual Population Survey and is based on the industry sector of their main job.

The population totals used for the latest APS estimates use projected growth rates from Real Time Information (RTI) data for UK, EU, and non-EU populations based on 2021 patterns. The total population used for the APS, therefore, does not take into account any changes in migration, birth rates, death rates, and so on since June 2021. As such, levels estimates may be under- or over-estimating the true values and should be used with caution.

Definitions:

Employment: The number of people in employment is measured via the ONS Labour Force Survey and consist of those aged 16 and over. Employment measures the number of people who did at least one hour of paid work or had a job they were temporarily away from. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported training and employment programs are also included. This is in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition.

There are also measures of the number of jobs and these are collected by surveys of businesses however one person may have more than one job.  For this indicator, the number of people in employment is used.

The “Arts, Culture and Creative” sector is compiled by aggregating Scotland level data according to the specified Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes for the arts, culture and creative industry sectors. Respondents to the ONS Annual Population Survey will self-report the industry sector of their main job. The sector definition is built up from a range of SIC 2007 codes including those that form the Creative Industries Growth Sector plus additional activities included after engagement with stakeholders from the sector. More on the SIC 2007 codes used to classify the broader sector can be found in Annex B of the technical note addendum.

Criteria for Change:

  • Any difference within +/-10,000 in unrounded annual employment of the previous year’s figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change.
  • An increase of more than 10,000 in the unrounded annual employment level suggests position is improving.
  • A decrease of more than 10,000 in the unrounded annual employment level suggests position is worsening.
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