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The Relationship Between the 1970 and 1980 Industry and Occupation Classification Systems

Report Number Techmical Paper 59

Introduction

This paper describes the changes in the industry and occupation classification systems used in the 1970 Census of Population (1970 census) and the classification systems used in the 1980 Census of Population (1980 census). As a result of these changes, some 1980 industry categories and most 1980 occupation major groups and detailed categories are not comparable to similar categories in the 1970 and earlier censuses.

From 1940 to 1980, the basic structure of the industry classification system used in the Censuses of Population was generally the same. The occupation classification system had a similar structure from 1940 to 1960. For 1970 the occupation classification was enlarged by almost 50 percent from 297 categories in 1960 to 441 categories in 1970. The 1980 system had 503 categories, an increase of 14 percent from 1970. The 1980 occupation classification also was a major departure from earlier censuses because of the adoption of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) by Federal agencies.

This report is designed to help users compare 1970 and 1980 census data by quantifying the relationship between the two sets of classification systems. Included are detailed tables showing the proportional flows for individual occupation and industry categories between the two census years and tables comparing the major groups. We derived these proportions from a sample of actual responses from the 1970 Census of Population.

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Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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