Distribution of parental occupation
Data on the occupation level of adults in families with dependent children.
Summary main findings
20% of adults in families with dependent children were in ‘higher professional’ occupations in 2021, up from 14% in 2014.
46% were in professional occupations (higher or lower) in 2021, up from 39% in 2014.
13% were in higher working class occupations in 2021, down from 19% in 2014.
32% were in working class occupations (higher or lower) in 2021, down from 40% in 2014.
By year
Visualisation for by year
Percentage of adults in families with dependent children in different occupation levels, over time (UK, 2014 to 2021)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data for by year
| Year | Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19.2 | 13.3 | 21.7 | 26.1 | 19.7 |
| 2020 | 16.9 | 17.3 | 21.6 | 26.3 | 18.0 |
| 2019 | 18.3 | 17.3 | 21.7 | 26.1 | 16.6 |
| 2018 | 18.7 | 18.0 | 21.7 | 25.7 | 16.0 |
| 2017 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 21.9 | 25.2 | 15.5 |
| 2016 | 19.1 | 19.2 | 21.8 | 24.3 | 15.5 |
| 2015 | 20.8 | 19.1 | 21.4 | 24.1 | 14.6 |
| 2014 | 21.3 | 18.9 | 21.2 | 24.6 | 14.1 |
Download for by year
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation for by area
Percentage of adults in families with dependent children in a higher professional or lower working class occupation, by region (UK, 2014 to 2021 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest percentages. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions.
The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data for by area
| Region | Lower working (%) | Higher professional (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 15.8 | 20.5 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 13.3 | 23.8 |
| Cheshire | 14.5 | 21.3 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 17.3 | 10.7 |
| Cumbria | 15.8 | 11.4 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 19.3 | 14.6 |
| Devon | 15.6 | 14.3 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 14.4 | 15.7 |
| East Anglia | 17.5 | 16.3 |
| East Wales | 18.5 | 14.9 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 24.3 | 10.0 |
| Eastern Scotland | 19.1 | 16.1 |
| Essex | 16.0 | 15.9 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 13.7 | 20.2 |
| Greater Manchester | 22.5 | 14.6 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 15.1 | 18.6 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 15.5 | 19.0 |
| Highlands and Islands | 14.1 | 11.2 |
| Inner London - East | 27.1 | 16.8 |
| Inner London - West | 19.2 | 29.5 |
| Kent | 15.3 | 16.4 |
| Lancashire | 21.0 | 12.0 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 20.2 | 15.1 |
| Lincolnshire | 19.9 | 12.7 |
| Merseyside | 20.2 | 15.2 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 17.9 | 17.9 |
| North Yorkshire | 13.2 | 16.9 |
| Northern Ireland | 22.6 | 12.3 |
| Northumberland and Tyne and Wear | 23.1 | 13.1 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 20.6 | 14.2 |
| Outer London - South | 14.8 | 22.6 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 20.1 | 20.7 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 17.4 | 14.5 |
| South Yorkshire | 23.5 | 10.8 |
| Southern Scotland | 17.7 | 11.3 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 11.8 | 21.3 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 23.1 | 9.4 |
| West Central Scotland | 23.0 | 14.4 |
| West Midlands | 28.5 | 11.3 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 21.6 | 9.2 |
| West Yorkshire | 24.6 | 14.3 |
Download for by area
- Download the Higher professional chart (PNG)
- Download the Higher professional map (PNG)
- Download the Lower working chart (PNG)
- Download the Lower working map (PNG)
- Download the data (CSV 2KB)
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Labour Force Survey (LFS), Office for National Statistics
Time period
2014 to 2021
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the occupation levels of adults in families with dependent children. Dependent children are classed as all 0 to 15 year olds, and 16 to 18 year olds who are in full-time education.
The occupation levels are:
- higher professional
- lower professional
- intermediate
- higher working
- lower working
Things you need to know
The average age of survey respondents was 40 years old. The majority of respondents are likely to be the parents or carers of dependent children, but some could be adults living in homes with parents who have dependent children.
Respondents aged less than 21 years old were not included.
Data is weighted using LFS probability weights.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. These intervals show where we expect the true value from a population to be 95% of the time. For example, a confidence interval with the range of values from 5 to 10 implies that there is a 95% chance that the true population value is between 5 and 10, and a 5% chance that it is outside of this range. The narrower the confidence interval or range, the more precise the estimate. Read more about confidence intervals
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2023 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 25KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Value
- Sample size
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Unit