Data

Revealing income inequalities: New data sources shed new light on key policy challenge.

Categories: Data, Economy, ONS, Population

High levels of income inequality have been associated with lower economic growth, poor social cohesion and limited social mobility.  But the most effective policy responses need to be informed by the best data. Here Richard Tonkin discusses how the ONS is upgrading its household income statistics to make them more accurate, relevant and accessible than ever before.

Read more on Revealing income inequalities: New data sources shed new light on key policy challenge.

Transforming how we report employment – why four is better than one

Categories: Data, Economy, ONS

Making ONS statistics more accessible is a key part of the ‘Better Statistics, Better Decisions’ strategy.  With the ups and downs of the job market closely followed by experts and non-specialists alike, our reporting of employment statistics is changing to make the information easier to find and the main stories stand out.  David Freeman reveals how. 

Read more on Transforming how we report employment – why four is better than one

Can social media data improve official statistics? Not yet, suggests new work on tourism

Categories: Data, Office for National Statistics, ONS

While ONS strategy is focused on making more use of government-held data to improve official statistics , researchers in the Data Science Campus are also exploring the value of social media data. There’s plenty of it and its potential seems obvious. But who is “citizen of the world” and where is “Black Pudding land”? As well as privacy concerns some big limitations in the data need addressing too, conclude Lanthao Benedikt and Emily Tew.  

Read more on Can social media data improve official statistics? Not yet, suggests new work on tourism

Looking after and using data for public benefit

Categories: Data, Office for National Statistics, ONS

Improved access to datasets including those held by other government bodies will allow ONS to advance its mission of providing the UK with better statistics for better decisions.  But with new data sharing powers comes a heightened responsibility to protect personal information.  As revised policies on the use, management and security of data are published Heather Savory explains how ONS is putting the public interest first.

Read more on Looking after and using data for public benefit