Foreign Workers

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the increase in (a) people in employment and (b) people of working age in employment between the third quarter for 1997 and (i) the third quarter for 2008 and (ii) the most recent quarter for which figures are available was accounted for by non-UK citizens. (286461)

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, July 2009:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of the increase in (a) people in employment and (b) people of working age in employment between the third quarter for 1997 and (i) the third quarter for 2008 and (ii) the most recent quarter for which figures are available was accounted for by non-UK citizens. (286461)

The information requested is shown in the attached tables. The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. They are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics Statistical Bulletin, including the migrant worker figures published every quarter, which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.

*Table 1: People aged 16 and over in employment by nationality: Three month period ending September 1997 and 2008; three month period ending March 2009—United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted*
		Number in employment (thousand)	Change since 1997 Q3 (thousand)	Change since 1997 Q3 as proportion of total change (%)
		UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total¹	UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total¹	UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total¹
1997	Q3	25,721	986	26,707	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008	Q3	27,203	2,323	29,533	1,482	1,337	2,825	52	47	100
2009	Q1	26,763	2,357	29,128	1,042	1,372	2,421	43	57	100
¹ Includes those whose nationality was not known.

*Table* 2: People of working age¹ *in employment by nationality: Three month period ending September 1997 and 2008; three month period ending March 2009—United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted*
		Number in employment (thousand)	Change since 1997 Q3 (thousand)	Change since 1997 Q3 as proportion of total change (%)
		UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total²	UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total²	UK nationals	Non-UK nationals	Total²
1997	Q3	24,928	964	25,893	—	——	—	—	—	—
2008	Q3	25,928	2,279	28,214	1,000	1,315	2,321	43	57	100
2009	Q1	25,454	2,313	27,775	526	1,348	1,882	28	52	100
¹ Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. ² Includes those whose nationality was not known. Source: Labour Force Survey

It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels mobile home sites etc.)

Volume 496: debated on Monday 20 July 2009