Economy

People matter: improving our estimates of human capital

Alongside the traditional measures of prosperity like GDP, the ONS is at the forefront of an international movement that’s developing new and alternative economic indicators that go beyond simple financial value. Central to this work are the plans to develop new ways of measuring ‘human capital’ that have been unveiled today. Here John Marais makes the case for measuring human capital better.

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Hiding in plain sight? Why economically inactive people aren’t in ‘hidden unemployment’

You’re either classed as employed or unemployed, right? Well, wrong, actually – there are three different possible ways people can be classified in the labour market. Here David Freeman looks at the third status, called ‘economic inactivity’ and explains how ONS statistics fully capture people’s involvement, or lack of it, with the world of work and why economically inactive people aren’t just in ‘hidden unemployment’.

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How we measure what the Government owns and what it owes

It’s well known that the Government has large amounts of debt, currently £1.8 trillion according to the headline measure. But what about other liabilities that are not included in this figure and what about all the assets the Government owns? Here, David Bailey sets out the way we measure it all and how the numbers are being improved.

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How EU contributions are calculated

The subject of how much the UK pays to the EU has been debated widely. The numbers used are principally based on figures reported by the ONS in our annual publication ‘The UK Balance of Payments’ which is often referred to as the Pink Book. So how do UK contributions to the EU work, and what does the Pink Book say?

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