Wage and Employment Dynamics - Phase 3 (WED3)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the West of England
Department Name: Faculty of Business and Law
Abstract
Many OECD countries have been utilising linked administrative data sources to understand their labour markets for many years, allowing them to gain a deep understanding of labour market dynamics. The UK has fallen behind due to the lack of an integrated view on the whole of an individual's labour market interactions.
The ADR UK funded projects Wage and Employment Dynamics Phase 1 and Phase 2 (WED1 and WED2) sought to address this by combining ONS survey data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) with business data, Census 2011 data, and administrative earnings data from HMRC. The aim of WED Phase 3 (WED3) is to add to previous WED projects, creating a sustainable, integrated, documented set of datasets prepared for research, linked by a wage and employment spine (WED) held by ONS.
This has the potential to fundamentally transform GB research and policy analysis across a vast range of topics. Public benefit is maximised through the provision of high-quality information on the datasets themselves (metadata) and training for accredited researchers. Alongside the creation of data infrastructure, the project will generate its own research findings of direct interest to policy makers, to demonstrate that the data creation provides research value.
WED1 created an improved, quality-assured and reweighted ASHE, and linked to the Census 2011 and Inter-Departmental Business Register. WED2 is in the process of linking in HMRC Self-Assessment and PAYE data, so that a complete picture of the working life can be gained.
WED3 will integrate the Migrant Worker Scan (MWS). By linking this dataset, the project aims to ensure that the information on individual personal characteristics remains current (Census 2021). It will also enable researchers to gain a richer understanding the experience and impact of migrant workers in the workforce (MWS).
The proposed work under WED3 will enable the benefits of the WED1 and WED2 to be fully realised, enabling researchers to better understand and improve current policy challenges, such as in-work poverty, the Gender/Ethnic, and the impact of the National Minimum Wage. The creation of these new links will bypass limitations created by solely analysing individual datasets, thereby enabling researchers to broaden their scope and understanding of the labour market in Great Britain.
In line with ADR UK's priorities, the WED team are actively engaging with the public and organisations that represent them to understand their interests and concerns in relation to using public sector data for research purposes. The WED team has set up a governance structure of three stakeholder groups (government, academic and public) to ensure the needs of all parties are met, and to ensure that the public sector data used in the project is used ethically and responsibly. This structure also enables groups to shape research, maximising the public benefit of administrative data research.
We have strong support for WED3 from data owners (e.g. HMRC, HESA), project partners (Low Pay Commission) and strategic data users (e.g. HM Treasury and Bank of England), evidenced by signed letters of support. The project will place the UK amongst leading nations when it comes to understanding the dynamics of their labour market; and this will help inform policy, ultimately leading to improvement in the lives of its citizens.
The ADR UK funded projects Wage and Employment Dynamics Phase 1 and Phase 2 (WED1 and WED2) sought to address this by combining ONS survey data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) with business data, Census 2011 data, and administrative earnings data from HMRC. The aim of WED Phase 3 (WED3) is to add to previous WED projects, creating a sustainable, integrated, documented set of datasets prepared for research, linked by a wage and employment spine (WED) held by ONS.
This has the potential to fundamentally transform GB research and policy analysis across a vast range of topics. Public benefit is maximised through the provision of high-quality information on the datasets themselves (metadata) and training for accredited researchers. Alongside the creation of data infrastructure, the project will generate its own research findings of direct interest to policy makers, to demonstrate that the data creation provides research value.
WED1 created an improved, quality-assured and reweighted ASHE, and linked to the Census 2011 and Inter-Departmental Business Register. WED2 is in the process of linking in HMRC Self-Assessment and PAYE data, so that a complete picture of the working life can be gained.
WED3 will integrate the Migrant Worker Scan (MWS). By linking this dataset, the project aims to ensure that the information on individual personal characteristics remains current (Census 2021). It will also enable researchers to gain a richer understanding the experience and impact of migrant workers in the workforce (MWS).
The proposed work under WED3 will enable the benefits of the WED1 and WED2 to be fully realised, enabling researchers to better understand and improve current policy challenges, such as in-work poverty, the Gender/Ethnic, and the impact of the National Minimum Wage. The creation of these new links will bypass limitations created by solely analysing individual datasets, thereby enabling researchers to broaden their scope and understanding of the labour market in Great Britain.
In line with ADR UK's priorities, the WED team are actively engaging with the public and organisations that represent them to understand their interests and concerns in relation to using public sector data for research purposes. The WED team has set up a governance structure of three stakeholder groups (government, academic and public) to ensure the needs of all parties are met, and to ensure that the public sector data used in the project is used ethically and responsibly. This structure also enables groups to shape research, maximising the public benefit of administrative data research.
We have strong support for WED3 from data owners (e.g. HMRC, HESA), project partners (Low Pay Commission) and strategic data users (e.g. HM Treasury and Bank of England), evidenced by signed letters of support. The project will place the UK amongst leading nations when it comes to understanding the dynamics of their labour market; and this will help inform policy, ultimately leading to improvement in the lives of its citizens.
Description | Low Pay Commission |
Organisation | Low Pay Commission |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We are working to support LPC researchers. |
Collaborator Contribution | LPC have made an in-kind contribution of dedicating research time to the WED project. |
Impact | Project has just started, so no outputs to report at this stage. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | ADR UK Linkage Steering Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The ADR UK Linkage Steering group considers ways to help deliver the strategic objectives of ADR UK's research strategy - we report progress in relation to all three WED projects. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Academic Stakeholder Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A group of seven academics who contribute to governance and setting strategy for the WED project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |
Description | Data Research, Access and Governance Network research Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Introduced the work of the WED programme to the DRAGoN research Group at UWE |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Government Stakeholder Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Representatives from nine government/policy departments (i.e. Bank of England, DWP, DfE, BEIS, HM Treasury, Government Equalities Office, Low Pay Commission, ONS and Welsh Government |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |
Description | Institute of Fiscal Studies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | IFS hosted a WED event to explore ways in which the WED datasets could inform the work of the IFS. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Joseph Rowntree Foundation Funding Call |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Following exploratory discussions, JRF presented at two WED workshops which were set up to promote the use of the WED datasets. they focussed on the WED 2 datasets, as it allowed researchers to focus on within year income volatility. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Migration Advisory Committee |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Following initial meetings with the secretariat of the Migration Advisory Committee, a representative presented at the WED Workshop to promote research ideas using the WED3 dataset. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | National Institute of Economic and Social Research |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | NIESR hosted an event promoting the WED project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Public Engagement Strategic Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
Results and Impact | A group of six organisations to oversee and build trust in the project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |
Description | WED Training Event - Understanding and using the WED Code |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Practical training session to inform potential users of the WED dataset how to work with the WED code. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |
Description | WED Workshop - University of Sheffield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A workshop hosted by the University of Sheffield to bring together the academic and policy community to explore how the WED datasets could be used to answer policy questions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |
Description | Wed Workshop - Bank of England |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A workshop hosted by the Bank of England to bring together the academic and policy community to explore how the WED datasets could be used to answer policy questions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | http://www.wagedynamics.com |