Posts by Emma Rourke

Behaviour shifts and the implications for migration statistics

Categories: migration, ONS, Population
Image of departures and arrivals sign at Heathrow

Net migration to the UK has been running at record levels. Driven by a rise in people coming for work, increasing numbers of students and world events, the patterns of migration have changed with more arrivals from outside of the EU than in the previous decade. Emma Rourke explains how the ONS is interpreting these behavioural changes, how they feed into the latest data and the implications for other population statistics. 

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Preparing for another global pandemic

Categories: ONS
A nurse holding a Covid test

Good data played a key part in informing the UK response to the Coronavirus pandemic. But what lessons can be learned and how can we best prepare not only ourselves, but the rest of the world if, and when, another pandemic hits? Emma Rourke explains how a global collaboration, led by the UK’s Office for National Statistics and funded by Wellcome, is growing to create the Pandemic Preparedness Toolkit which could make a valuable contribution to the next global pandemic response.

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Census 2021 gender identity estimates: progress and next steps

Categories: Census, Office for National Statistics, Office for Statistics Regulation, ONS, Population, UK Statistics Authority

One of our key roles as statisticians is to paint a picture of society according to how people describe themselves. Our responsibility is to keep pace with how society defines itself and to make our statistics available as promptly as possible. Data from Census 2021 are so rich and complex that the publication of the first results is far from the end of our work. Sometimes we can unearth unexpected patterns as we undertake further analysis and gather feedback from users about their findings. Emma Rourke explains what we know about census gender identity data so far.

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The gender data gap

Categories: Data, ONS

As we approach the centenary of women’s suffrage, gender issues remain a topic of fierce interest and debate through issues such as the gender pay gap, sexual harassment and male suicide. Last week, Emma Rourke took part in an event which asked do we have the data we need to make  informed decisions on how to tackle issues of gender equality? Here, Emma explains the role data has to play. 

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The Age of Data

Categories: Data, ONS, Population

On current projections almost 1 in 6 of the world’s population will be aged 60 or over by 2030 and there are many gaps in the knowledge we need to inform the social and economic policy response.
Emma Rourke explains how ONS is rising to the challenge.

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