Unemployed

Mr. Frank Field
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many working age workless households with couples without dependent children there were in each year since 1992.

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

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 June 2007:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about workless couple households without dependent children. (145881)

The attached table gives the information requested. The figures in the table are estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), for the three month period ending in May of each year from 1992 to 2006.

A household is defined as a single person, or a group of people living at the same address who have the address as their only main residence and either share one main meal a day or share the living accommodation (or both). A workless working-age couple household is one that is headed by a married/cohabiting couple and that includes at least one person of working age and in which no-one aged 16 or over is in employment. Couple households without dependent children may include non-dependent children, and/or members of other family units, whose economic status affects the combined economic status of the household (i.e. whether it is classified as workless or not).

As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Workless working-age couple households without dependent children1,2,3,4—United Kingdom, spring (March-May) 1992 to 2006, not seasonally adjustedThousandPercentage5199273811.6199381312.9199479412.5199581113.0199677012.8199779112.9199811112.6199976412.4200077112.3200173611.8200272711.6200369711.1200470011.2200571611.4200669111.1 1 A workless couple household is a household that is headed by a married/cohabiting couple and that includes at least one person of working age and in which no-one aged 16 or over is in employment. Couple households without dependent children may include non-dependent children, and/or members of other family units, whose economic status affects the combined economic status of the household (i.e. whether it is classified as workless or not).2 Working-age includes men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.3 Dependent children are those aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who are never-married and in full-time education.4 Estimates have been adjusted for households with unknown economic activity status.5 Workless working-age couple households without dependent children as a percentage of all working-age couple households without dependent children.Note:As with any sample survey, estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to a margin or uncertainty.Source:Labour Force Survey