Posts by Emma Rourke

Gathering insights for harmonised standards on sex and gender identity

Work by the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonisation team to develop new standards for sex and also for gender identity data collection is underway with a series of listening events beginning next month. Emma Rourke explains the aims for these events and how the insights gathered will support the growing evidence base for data collection on these topics.

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Using the power of linked data to understand factors preventing people from working

Crowds of people walking through a busy street

Nearly 9 million working-age people in the UK were not working or looking for work – that is, economically inactive – from May to July 2023. This figure includes more than 2.5 million people inactive due to long-term sickness, an increase of half-a-million people since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Emma Rourke explains how linked, population-level data can improve our understanding of the interplay between health and work, with the goal of improving the wellbeing of individuals and the economy.

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