The hidden stories within census data

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Turner, Niall^{; *} | Nesbitt, Tara

Affiliations: St John of Gods Adult Community Mental Health Services, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Niall Turner, St John of Gods Adult Community Mental Health Services, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin, Ireland. Tel.: +35312172100; E-mail: Niall.Turner@sjog.ie.

Abstract: Census data plays an important role in informing a Government’s policies and priorities. In the Republic of Ireland census data from 1986 onwards is available online. For this article variables pertaining to work, specifically the non-labour force variable, were analysed. While we found a linear decline from 47.16% in 1986 to 38.14% in 2011 this had not occurred in all categories of non-labour force work; the “unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability” group increased from 6.84% to 11.41%, a 66% rise. This occurred in spite of legislation and services being put in place to assist people with disabilities to re-enter the workforce. US data also indicates a rise in the number of people with disabilities in the non-labour force work category. Why this is occurring is a complex question, determining if similar trends are evident within census data in other countries would assist in answering it.

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-172591

Journal: Work, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 483-484, 2017