On 19 June 2025, we were delighted to host this year’s Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys User Conference in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) at University College London.
The event brought together a wealth of data experts and researchers from across the UK to talk about the latest developments in Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys. It also featured a range of presentations showcasing how the data from these surveys have been used to improve people’s lives.
Rethinking work
The keynote presentation was given by Professor Heejung Chung, Professor of Work and Employment at King’s College London, and Director of King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.
Professor Chung discussed the challenges of measuring work in the age of remote working, the digitalisation of work and the ‘always-on’ work culture. Using datasets in the UK Data Service collection, she provided some fascinating insights into how work is changing across the UK.
This included the observation that “the UK is the global leader for remote working” due to “the behaviours that developed following the COVID-19 lockdowns”. She illustrated that people’s perceptions of their main workplace have changed significantly since the pandemic, with many now saying it is at home.
However, Professor Chung also noted patterns of inequality within these trends. There is evidence the rise in homeworking has varied substantially according to ethnic group, gender and migration status. This raises important questions about whether homeworking is “levelling the playing field” or simply entrenching it.
The nature of homeworking also has important implications for our work-life balance. As Professor Chung explained, “when the boundaries between working from home and in the office are blurred, people tend to work longer and expand their work. So self-exploitation can easily creep in.”
Data updates
During the data producer talks, Martina Helme from the Office for National Statistics provided a detailed overview of recent changes in the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey. James Harris from the Office for National Statistics also discussed progress with plans to make significant changes to the Labour Force Survey.
Both presentations emphasised the challenges they have faced in gathering high quality data since the pandemic. However, the ongoing changes to the Labour Force Survey aim to produce a larger overall sample size, more robust processing systems, a modular design to integrate more question blocks, a more flexible survey that is able to respond faster to change, and upgraded questions and responses.
This was accompanied by a presentation from Adam Corlett of the Resolution Foundation. Adam explained why estimated employment rates in the Labour Force Survey can be inaccurate. He then illustrated how administrative data can be used to get a more reliable picture of the labour market. This led to a fascinating collaborative conversation between the main speakers and the audience about how future surveys might be improved.
Research findings
The final sessions featured a range of presentations from researchers who have used Labour Force and Annual Population Survey data available from the UK Data Service in their work.
Their research included:
- The development of an index for measuring insecure work in the UK.
- A study of overeducation and skill mismatches among UK graduates.
- New insights on the gender wage gap in the UK.
- An analysis of UK youth employment markets.
- A study on the socio-economic diversity of doctors in the UK.
- A profile of shiftworking fathers and mothers of young children in the context of the Employment Rights Bill.
The presentations underlined the power of these resources to enable research and generate impact across society. You can access slides from each presentation via our event page.