The ASHE-Census England and Wales 2021 linked dataset
The WED team is collaborating with the ONS to link the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) to the 2021 Census of England and Wales (CEW21). The linked dataset is currently in development. We expect it to become available in Summer 2026, although we are dependent on ONS and a date cannot yet be confirmed.
The beta documentation below provides a preview of the expected content and characteristics of the linked dataset.
Updates on the release timetable will be posted via our mailing list and WED Project Knowledge Hub.
This beta version (v0.1) of the User Guide provides a preview of the forthcoming dataset. It outlines the protocol being adopted by ONS to link the two datasets and describes the expected features of the linked data. It also discusses connections between the ASHE-CEW21 linkage and an earlier linkage project in which ASHE was linked to the 2011 Census of England and Wales (CEW11). The User Guide will be updated once the ASHE-CEW21 linkage has been completed and quality assured.
This beta version (v0.1) of the Data Dictionary lists the variables that we expect to be present on the final published dataset, with the exception of the geographic identifiers and variables describing the linkage process (still the subject of discussion with the ONS Census and Data Engineering Teams). The data dictionary includes code lists for categorical variables. The data dictionary will be updated once the set of geographic identifiers and linkage-process variables has been agreed.
This beta version (v0.1) of the Synthetic Dataset provides an indication of the structure of the final dataset. It contains variables whose values have been generated at random. It does not seek to reproduce any of the moments from the real microdata. The synthetic dataset is expected to be most useful to those without any prior experience of using the ASHE-CEW11 dataset, as it provides a broad insight into the expected data structure for ASHE-CEW21. Click here for the Synthetic Dataset Guide
Download the beta version (v0.1) of the ASHE-CEW21 Synthetic Dataset here.
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge funding from UK Research and Innovation under grant number ES/Z502893/1 (Creating Research-Ready Data by Linking Census Data to ASHE).