Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 1997-2023: Secure Access

<p>The <i>Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings</i> (ASHE) is one of the largest surveys of the earnings of individuals in the UK. Data on the wages, paid hours of work, and pensions arrangements of nearly one per cent of the working population are collected. Other variables relating to age, occupation and industrial classification are also available. The ASHE sample is drawn from National Insurance records for working individuals, and the survey forms are sent to their respective employers to complete.<br>
<br>
While limited in terms of personal characteristics compared to surveys such as the <i>Labour Force Survey</i>, the ASHE is useful not only because of its larger sample size, but also the responses regarding wages and hours are considered to be more accurate, since the responses are provided by employers rather than from employees themselves. A further advantage of the ASHE is that data for the same individuals are collected year after year. It is therefore possible to construct a panel dataset of responses for each individual running back as far as 1997, and to track how occupations, earnings and working hours change for individuals over time. Furthermore, using the unique business identifiers, it is possible to combine ASHE data with data from other business surveys, such as the <i>Annual Business Survey</i> (UK Data Archive SN 7451).<br>
<br>
The ASHE replaced the <i>New Earnings Survey</i> (NES, SN 6704) in 2004. NES was developed in the 1970s in response to the policy needs of the time. The survey had changed very little in its thirty-year history. ASHE datasets for the years 1997-2003 were derived using ASHE methodologies applied to NES data.<br>
<br>
The ASHE improves on the NES in the following ways:</p><ul><li>the NES questionnaire allowed too much variation in employer responses, leading to wide variations in the data</li><li>weightings have been introduced to take account of the population size (significant biases were a known problem in NES data)</li><li>the significant numbers of employees who change jobs between the sample selection and survey reference dates are retained in the ASHE sample, whereas these were dropped from the NES</li></ul><i>Linking to other business studies</i><br>
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.<br>
<br>
<i>Observations from Northern Ireland</i><br>
The ASHE data held by the UK Data Archive include very few observations from Northern Ireland. Users requiring access to Northern Ireland data are advised to contact the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, who administer this aspect of the survey.<br>
<br>
<i>Local unit reference variable, luref</i><br>
The local unit reference variable 'luref', is generated to indicate multiple occurrences of the same local unit for disclosure checking purposes. It is inconsistent across years and is not an IDBR reference number. It should not be used to link ASHE with other business datasets.<p></p><p>For Secure Lab projects applying for access to this study as well as to SN 6697 <span style="font-style:italic">Business Structure Database</span> and/or SN 7683<em> Business Structure Database Longitudinal</em>, only postcode-free versions of the data will be made available.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Latest Edition Information</span><br>For the twenty-fifth edition (April 2024), the data file 'ashegb_2022r_2023p_soc20_ restricted' has been updated, along with the accompanying data dictionary. An error was identified with the previous edition data file. The work postcode was not included for around 1,000 records (across the board) of the 148,000 records in the 2022 sample. This would have a minimal impact on high level analysis, but affect detailed geography level analysis. The 2022 published tables were not affected.<br></p>

<p><i>《年度工时与薪酬调查》（Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ASHE）</i>是英国规模最大的个人薪酬调查项目之一。该调查采集了英国近1%就业人口的工资、带薪工时与养老金参保安排相关数据，同时涵盖年龄、职业与行业分类等其他变量。ASHE的样本来自就业人群的国民保险（National Insurance）登记记录，调查问卷将发放至受访者各自的雇主进行填写。<br><br>相较于<i>《劳动力调查》（Labour Force Survey）</i>等同类调查，ASHE在个人特征维度上覆盖有限，但其优势显著：一方面样本规模更大，另一方面由于薪酬与工时数据由雇主而非雇员本人填报，调查结果的准确性更高。此外，ASHE的另一项核心优势在于可逐年采集同一受访者的跟踪数据，因此能够构建自1997年起的个人层面面板数据集，追踪个体职业、薪酬与工时的长期变化。不仅如此，借助唯一的企业标识符，研究人员还可将ASHE数据与<i>《年度商业调查》（Annual Business Survey，英国数据档案馆编号SN 7451）</i>等其他商业调查数据进行合并。<br><br>ASHE于2004年取代了<i>《新薪酬调查》（New Earnings Survey, NES，编号SN 6704）</i>。NES诞生于20世纪70年代，以满足当时的政策需求，在其30年的发展历程中调查框架几乎未作调整。1997至2003年的ASHE数据集，是通过将ASHE的调查方法应用于NES原始数据推导生成的。<br><br>ASHE在以下方面对NES进行了优化：<br><ul><li>NES的调查问卷允许雇主填报存在过多弹性空间，导致数据离散程度过大</li><li>引入了人口规模加权机制，以修正NES数据中曾长期存在的显著偏差问题</li><li>保留了在样本选取与调查基准日期之间更换工作的大量雇员样本，而此类样本在NES调查中会被剔除</li></ul><i>与其他商业研究的关联</i><br>此类数据包含部门间商业登记册（Inter-Departmental Business Register, IDBR）参考编号，该编号为企业组织分配的匿名且唯一标识，其纳入使得研究人员能够整合不同的商业调查数据源。研究人员可申请获取其他商业数据以辅助自身研究工作。<br><br><i>北爱尔兰观测样本</i><br>英国数据档案馆（UK Data Archive）所持有的ASHE数据中，北爱尔兰的观测样本极少。需要使用北爱尔兰相关数据的用户，建议联系负责该调查相关板块的北爱尔兰统计与研究署（Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency）。<br><br><i>本地单位参考变量'luref'</i><br>本地单位参考变量'luref'用于标识同一本地单位的多次出现，以满足数据披露检查的需求。该变量在不同年份间不具备一致性，且不属于IDBR参考编号，因此不得用于将ASHE数据与其他商业数据集进行关联。<p></p><p>对于申请访问本研究以及SN 6697<i>《企业结构数据库》（Business Structure Database）</i>和/或SN 7683<i>《纵向企业结构数据库》（Business Structure Database Longitudinal）</i>的安全实验室项目，仅会提供无邮编版本的数据。<br><br><i>最新版本信息</i><br>在第25版（2024年4月）中，数据文件`ashegb_2022r_2023p_soc20_restricted`及配套的数据字典均已完成更新。此前版本的数据文件存在一处错误：2022年样本的148,000条记录中，全样本范围内约1,000条记录的工作邮编未被收录。该问题对高层次分析的影响极小，但会干扰精细地理层级的分析工作。2022年发布的官方统计表格未受此问题影响。<br></p>

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集是英国国家统计局发布的年度工时与收入调查数据，覆盖1997年至2025年，包含详细的工时、收入、养老金及职业分类变量。数据集通过英国数据服务提供安全访问，要求用户注册、获得批准并完成安全培训，仅限英国境内非商业研究使用。