Employment

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the total number of people of working age in the UK not in employment for each year from 1976 to 2006, broken down by (a) lone parents, (b) unemployed, (c) those not working because of illness on disability, (d) carers and (e) other classifications; and if he will make a statement. (96537)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 October 2006:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about people not in employment for each year from 1976 to 2006. (96537)

Table 1 gives estimates of the numbers of people resident in the United Kingdom who are not in employment. This includes those unemployed, and people inactive by their reason for inactivity.

Table 2 gives estimates for lone parents not in employment.

Both tables cover the three months ending June each year since 1997. Comparable estimates are not available for earlier periods.

Estimates are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

*Table 1: People of working age*¹ *not in work by reason 1997 to 2006—United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted*
Thousand
	Inactive
Three months ending June each year	ILO unemployed	ILO unemploy	Total	Student	Looking after family/home	Temp sick/injured	Long-term sick/injured	Discouraged worker	Retired	Other
1997	9,621	1,994	7,627	1,490	2,541	214	2,114	92	474	702
1999	9,328	1,676	7,652	1,568	2,458	170	2,169	66	513	707
2001	9,187	1,394	7,792	1,648	2,392	187	2,198	33	585	749
2002	9,254	1,434	7,820	1,660	2,381	172	2,220	32	576	779
2003	9,204	1,384	7,819	1,780	2,390	187	2,100	37	562	763
2004	9,276	1,353	7,923	1,822	2,324	185	2,159	34	591	808
2005	9,298	1,349	7,949	1,898	2,306	182	2,132	32	615	783
2006	9,400	1,578	7,822	1,913	2,271	182	2,066	35	584	772
¹ Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. Note: Comparable data not available for 1998 and 2000. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

*Table 2: Lone parents*¹ *of working age*² *not in work 1997 to 2006—United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted*
Three months ending June each year	Thousand
1997	878
1999	898
2001	846
2002	841
2003	771
2004	847
2005	813
2006	800
¹ Refers to people who are neither married nor cohabiting and who have dependent children, who are defined as 0 to 15 year olds, or 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education. ² Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59. Note: Comparable data not available for 1998 and 2000. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Volume 450: debated on Thursday 26 October 2006