ONS

School’s Out: measuring education output in the summer of the pandemic

Children in a classroom

One of the challenges of measuring the economy through the pandemic has been estimating the contribution of the public sector, when the relationship between public spending and outputs – for example classes taught or operations conducted – is very different from pre-COVID-19 times. Katherine Mills talks about how we’ve approached the issue.  

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6 months since lockdown began: How we’re continuing to inform during the pandemic

An artists impression of COVID-19 virus and decorative charts

This week marks 6 months since the beginning of lockdown. It, therefore, feels appropriate to reflect on our response to the pandemic so far and provide an update on our plans for future analysis.  Liz McKeown and Darren Morgan, who are leading the analytical response, reflect on how we’ve responded to the coronavirus pandemic to date and look ahead at our future plans.

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Making health statistics more easily accessible

Screenshot of the Health statistics tool

This week we’ve published a new tool which aims to bring together health statistics from across government in one place.  Covering a wide range of topics from alcohol to dementia, the tool aims to make it easier for anyone to find the information they need on health in England.  Theodore Joloza explains how this tool came about and why it is important.

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How energy efficiency data can help reduce our carbon footprint

Picture of row of terraced houses

New exploratory ONS research using Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data shows that average energy bills for existing houses in England and in Wales were estimated to be more than twice those of new houses – and only in London are the majority of new homes being built without mains gas central heating. Here Debra Prestwood puts our new analysis into context and explains why it’s important.

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Measuring the UK housing market?

Image of a house on a scales. There is a green up arrow on the left and a down arrow in red on the right of it

House prices and the state of the property market are an abiding national obsession. How much is my place worth, are prices rising around here and can I afford to buy yet? The coronavirus pandemic has made the task of collecting data about the housing and rental markets more challenging, but the ONS and others have  continued to produce figures. Here Chris Jenkins looks what they say about the state of the property market in pandemic so far.

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