The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 20 September 2007:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about the number of people aged (a) 50 to 55, (b) 55 to 60, (c) 60 to 65, (d) 65 to 70 and (d) over 70 years were in work in each year since 1997. (154674)
The attached table gives the number of people aged (a) 50 to 54, (b) 55 to 59, (c) 60 to 64, (d) 65 to 69 and (d) over 70 years in employment for the three months ending June each year from 1997 to 2007. Comparable estimates are not available for 1998 and 2000. These estimates are not seasonally adjusted.
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.
Thousand Age Three months ending June each year All 16+ employed1 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70+ 1997 26,356 2,751 1,785 1,023 275 163 1999 26,876 2,995 1,946 1,017 304 158 2001 27,438 3,093 2,156 1,076 283 151 2002 27,617 2,986 2,358 1,086 314 164 2003 27,863 2,939 2,552 1,180 347 170 2004 28,024 2,902 2,603 1,243 366 183 2005 28,193 2,904 2,667 1,287 389 191 2006 28,339 2,934 2,688 1,384 425 198 2007 28,434 2,981 2,596 1,539 412 222 1 Includes other age bands. Note: Comparable data are not available for 1998 and 2000. Source: ONS Labour Force Survey