Presenter
Vahé Nafilyan OBE is a health statistician and the head of the Health Division at the Office for National Statistics. He has extensive experience of using linked administrative records to produce innovative analyses on important public health issues. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he used newly linked data to lead various analyses on inequalities in COVID-19 mortality and vaccination. He is currently oversees a programme of work investigating the labour market effects of health interventions. He joined ONS in 2017 and holds a PhD in Economics from King’s College London

Title
Understanding the effect of health on labour market outcomes using new linked data.

Abstract
In collaboration with NHS England and DHSC, the ONS is currently leading a work programme investigating the impact of various health conditions, and treatments for those conditions, on labour market outcomes such as employment, pay and benefit receipts.  The ONS has created a data asset comprising NHS health records, HMRC pay-as-you-earn records, DWP benefit receipts, ONS death registrations and ONS Census data. The datasets are linked at the individual level, cover almost the entire working-age population of England, and provide nearly a decade of longitudinal observations. First, I will describe the new data linkages ONS has developed. I will then present the findings from several studies using these data, looking at the effects of various health interventions, including bariatric surgery and the NHS Talking Therapies.