Categories of early adulthood economic activity used in the analysis, derived from reported economic activity categories and occupational social class
| Early adulthood economic activity | Reported economic activity categories | Occupational social class (RGSC 1991) | Examples of occupational social class37 |
| Education | Full-time education Part-time education Government-training schemes | n/a | n/a |
| Professional employment | Full-time employment Part-time employment Self-employed (full or part-time) | Professional occupations | National government administrators, scientists, doctors |
| Managerial employment | Managerial and technical occupations | General managers, police officers, bank managers, teachers, nurses | |
| Skilled non-manual employment | Skilled non-manual occupations | Salespeople, restaurant/shop managers, clerks, secretaries | |
| Skilled manual employment | Skilled manual occupations | Plumbers, carpenters, mechanics, bus drivers | |
| Partly skilled employment | Partly skilled occupations | Waiters, market traders, farm workers | |
| Unskilled employment | Unskilled occupations | Labourers, porters | |
| Unemployed | Unemployed and seeking work | n/a | n/a |
| Economically inactive | Looking after home/family Travelling/extended holiday Sick/disabled Voluntary work Maternity leave Retired | n/a | n/a |
n/a, not applicable; RGSC, Registrar General’s Social Class.