By Trafford
(Contributor) On 27/06/2006 at 12:01 | Working Age Population Data APS/LFS Why are the figures for the Working Age population at LA level so different between the LFS and APS? I thought that both datasets were derived from the same survey. Which is more accurate?
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| The LFS and APS are survey data so do not in themselves measure the population of an area. Rather they are "grossed up" using a data set ONS produce on household population estimates. The reasons for the differences between the population figures you refer to will be that the LFS will probably be using older pre-Census population estimates, whereas the APS will use newer population estimates which have been adjusted in the light of the 2001 Census. If you simply want the working age population in an area, you should use the population estimates data set rather then the LFS/APS. This gives a consistent population series at local authority level back to 1981. |
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By Trafford
(Contributor) On 03/07/2006 at 11:29 | Thanks for clearing up the difference between LFS and APS figures. However, part of the reason that I don't currently use the mid-year population estimate data is that I can't find a way to separate out the 15-19 age group to only include 16-19. Any tips? Also, when performing a query on the APS/LFS data, which WAP figure should I use? For example, when looking at rates of economic activity on APS, should I disregard the figures automatically provided on the excel spreadsheet output and use the mid-year population figures instead? |
| ONS only disseminate mid-year population estimates by five-year bands. Contact the population estimates section to enquire about the availability of other age groups (pop.info@ons.gov.uk). Always use the WAP figures from the APS/LFS data sets when working with other APS data as all the APS/LFS data are grossed up to a consistent population base. If the APS for an area were to be regrossed at a later stage to use a higher or lower WAP count, this would also affect the economic activity count, so the overall rate you would get from the regrossed set of data would probably not change greatly (if at all). |
