You asked
I am looking to gain an understanding into how COVID has caused many people to work from home (where possible) and how this relates to their income percentile. I would be grateful if you could direct me to the relevant statistics on the ONS website, or point me to where I could obtain this information, where the data includes the income percentile occupied and a view on whether it is possible to work from home.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Estimates of homeworking by income can be produced from a number of sources. We believe, in this instance, that the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) is the best source of data for your request.
This source will allow for estimates by the following income bands; Up to £10,000, £10,000 - £15,000, £15,000 to £20,000, £20,000 - £30,000, £30,000 - £40,000, £40,000 - £50,000 and more than £50,000. The latest available data covers the period 5-8 November 2020. Weekly data are available prior to this date; however, they were not designed to produce robust estimates at this level and will be subject to disclosure and quality constraints.
If you would like to enquire about obtaining these estimates, please contact ONS's Policy, Evidence and Analysis team at policy.evidence.analysis@ons.gov.uk or +44 (0)1633 455278. Such a service would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs where appropriate. More information on our charging rates can be found on our website here -> https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whatwedo/statistics/publicationscheme/chargingrates.
You may be interested to know that we are currently publishing statistics on home working as part of our regular Coronavirus - faster indicator release and our Coronavirus and the social impacts on Great Britain release.