Erikson-Goldthorpe scheme
The Erikson-Goldthorpe scheme is a four-dimensional measure, discriminating between different values of employment status, between manual and non-manual occupations, between agricultural and non-agricultural work, and between 'service' and 'labour'. 'Service' refers to occupations where the individual is entrusted with responsibility for their own work, is usually paid by a monthly salary, and is rewarded by career progression and job security. 'Labour' refers to occupations in which the worker provides a set amount of labour, usually for a weekly wage, and whose primary motivation comes from the supervision of superiors rather than through incentives.
The scheme has 11 non-ordinal categories, as follows:
| 1 |
Higher-grade professionals, self-employed or salaried. |
| 2 | Lower-grade professionals. Higher-grade technicians. Lower-grade administrators and officials. Managers of small businesses. |
| 3a | Higher-grade workers in routine non-manual jobs |
| 3b | Lower-grade workers in routine non-manual jobs |
| 4a | Small proprietors, self-employed with employees |
| 4b | Small proprietors, self-employed with no employees |
| 4c | Farmers and smallholders |
| 5 | Lower-grade technicians, manual supervisors |
| 6 | Skilled manual workers |
| 7a | Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers |
| 7b | Farm workers |
Individuals in the LS can be assigned to each of these groups based on their occupation and employment status using a look-up table. The look-up tables are available in the LS database and individuals can be coded by CeLSIUS staff on request.