Socio-economic background - SG Core
Data on employees’ socio-economic background is limited, as it only gathered as part of the People Survey. We use the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC) as our measure for socio-economic background below. The NS-SEC groups the occupation of the respondent’s main income-earning parent when they were 14.
Those whose parents were in “professional or managerial occupations” are classified as “High”. Those whose parents were in “clerical, sales, service and intermediate technical occupations” are classified as “Intermediate”. Those whose parents were in “routine, semi-routine, low supervisory and technical occupations” are classified as ‘Routine’, and a final category is included for those whose parents “Never worked”.
The declaration rate for socio-economic background in the People Survey is 81.6%. This excludes all staff who could not be categorised for any reason (denoted “Undetermined” in the charts and tables below).
Workforce culture
This publication has been updated to include data from the 2022 People Survey. Results for People Survey 2021 can be found in last year’s publication.
The data below come from the annual Civil Service People Survey and highlight the experiences of staff working in SG Core. The scores below are the percentage of positive responses by respondents indicating they belong to a particular demographic group. Respondents who didn’t answer the question on socio-economic background have been removed from these charts and tables, although they are included in the calculation of the total figure.
Some of the percentages in the charts below are followed by arrows indicating the level of statistical significance. These boxes are also colour-coded in various shades of green and red to indicate whether the difference is desirable or not respectively.
Engagement
67% of staff from a high socio-economic background report feeling engaged, compared to 66.5% of staff whose parents never worked.
The chart below shows the percentage of staff who feel engaged with their work in 2022.
Figure 8a: Employee engagement score by socio-economic background in 2022
Some cells in the table below might not contain data. These cells have been suppressed for confidentiality purposes, represented by [c].
Table 8a: Employee engagement score by socio-economic background in 2022
Inclusion & fair treatment
87.2% of staff from a high socio-economic background report feeling included and treated fairly, compared to 81.5% of staff whose parents never worked.
The chart below shows the percentage of staff feeling included and that they are treated fairly in 2022.
Figure 8b: Inclusion & fair treatment score by socio-economic background in 2022
Some cells in the table below might not contain data. These cells have been suppressed for confidentiality purposes, represented by [c].
Table 8b: Inclusion & fair treatment score by socio-economic background in 2022
Bullying & harassment
7% of staff from a high socio-economic background report experiencing bullying and/or harassment, compared to 11.2% of staff whose parents never worked.
The chart below shows the percentage of staff having experienced bullying and/or harassment at work in 2022. Lower percentages are preferred.
Figure 8c: Bullying & harassment score by socio-economic background in 2022
Some cells in the table below might not contain data. These cells have been suppressed for confidentiality purposes, represented by [c].
Table 8c: Bullying & harassment score by socio-economic background in 2022
Discrimination
5.2% of staff from a high socio-economic background report experiencing discrimination, compared to 13.4% of staff whose parents never worked.
The chart below shows the percentage of staff having experienced discrimination at work in 2022. Lower percentages are preferred.
Figure 8d: Discrimination score by socio-economic background in 2022
Some cells in the table below might not contain data. These cells have been suppressed for confidentiality purposes, represented by [c].