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People of working age
This chapter gives a summary of progress on the indicators for people of working age and then goes on to describe each indicator in detail. Outcomes for this group are important as they determine some of the attributes that people carry with them through life. We know that those people who are poorer have worse life chances. They are likely to be poorly educated, poorly paid and have worse health than others. They are also likely to pass on these attributes to their children.
Employment
In the baseline year of 1997 the proportion of working-age adults in employment in Great Britain was 72.9 per cent (Indicator 18). The rate rose to reach a peak of 75.0 per cent in 2004 but since then, the rate has decreased slightly to a 2007 figure of 74.5 per cent (seasonally adjusted Quarter 2 Labour Force Survey data). Employment rates for men were just over ten percentage points higher than for women in 1997, compared with 8.6 percentage points in 2006, indicating a narrowing of the gap. In 2007 the gap was 9.1 percentage points.
Some groups face particular barriers to entering, remaining in and progressing in employment. These disadvantaged groups include disabled people, lone parents, ethnic minority groups, people aged 50 and over, people with low or no qualifications, and those living in the most deprived areas. The employment rate for most of these disadvantaged groups has increased over time and the gap between their employment rate and the national employment rate has narrowed (Indicator 19).
However, progress has been made at different rates for different groups. Data for this year are not directly comparable with previous years because of the change from seasonal to quarterly reporting of the Labour Force Survey. Nevertheless, this year’s data show that, while the overall employment rate in Quarter 2 of 2007 stood at 74.3 per cent[18], the rate of other groups varied considerably with employment rates of 71.6 per cent for people over 50, 60.1 per cent for ethnic minority people, 57.2 per cent for lone parents, 50.1 per cent for the lowest qualified and 47.2 per cent for disabled people.
Worklessness
The proportion of working-age people living in workless households in Great Britain fell from 13.3 per cent in 1997 to 11.5 per cent in 2006 (Indicator 20). In 2007 the Labour Force Survey moved to calendar quarterly data. This means that the data for 2007 is not directly comparable for previous years, but the proportion of working-age people living in workless households in 2007 stood at 11.9 per cent.
The Office of National Statistics publishes the Statistical First Release Work and Worklessness among households twice a year, corresponding with the release of the Household Level Labour Force Survey data.[19]
The latest release reports that in April-June 2007 (Quarter 2), the rate of worklessness for all households without dependent children in the United Kingdom was 17.5 per cent, compared with 13.9 per cent for all households with dependent children. The rate of worklessness for lone parent households with dependent children was 39.8 per cent, whereas for couple households with dependent children the rate was 5.6 per cent.
In the three months to June 2007, the proportion of working-age people living in workless households was highest for the Chinese ethnic group, at 25.0 per cent, and lowest for the Indian ethnic group, at 10.0 per cent.Education
The proportion of working-age people without a qualification at NVQ Level 2 or higher has fallen from 39.1 per cent in 1998 to 31.4 per cent in 2006 (Indicator 21). In 2007 data from the Labour Force Survey moved to a calendar quarter basis, and as such is not comparable with the previous data. The proportion of working-age people without NVQ Level 2 or higher in 2007 is 31.4 per cent.
Low income
The number of people living in families in receipt of Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance for two years or more peaked at around 2.3 million in early 1996. Since then, the numbers have fallen to 2.0 million in February 1997 (the baseline) and to around 1.8 million in 1999 and subsequent years. This year has seen a reduction from 1.79 million in 2006 to 1.77 million in 2007 (Indicator 22).
The proportion of working-age people living in households with relative low incomes (income below 60 per cent of the median equivalised household income in Great Britain) remained broadly constant between 1996/97 and 2005/06, on both before and after housing costs measures (Indicator 23). The latest data show a slight increase on both the before and after housing costs measures to 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.
The proportion of working-age people living in households with absolute low incomes fell from 14 per cent in 1998/99 to 10 per cent in 2001/02 and has, before housing costs, remained at 10 per cent in subsequent years. On the after housing costs measure absolute low income fell from 19 per cent in 1998/99 to 13 per cent in 2004/05 but increased to 14 per cent in 2005/06.
The percentage of working-age people living in a household with a low income (below 60 per cent of median) in at least three out of four years has remained broadly constant since 1997 on both before and after housing costs measures, between 6-7 percent, and 8-9 per cent, respectively.[20]
Single adults without children were the most likely family type to exit persistent low income – at a rate of one in three (compared to around one in six for all individuals). Couples without children also had a relatively high exit rate (one in five). In terms of economic status, the self-employed had the highest exit rate (over one in four), along with families where all adults were in employment (around one in four). In contrast, workless families had a relatively high entry rate at 4 per cent (compared to just 1 per cent of all individuals).
Exits from persistent poverty were most commonly associated with a rise in the head of household's earnings and rises in benefit income.[21]
Health
Overall, people from lower socio-economic groups have a shorter life expectancy, higher infant mortality rates, and are more likely to smoke than those from other groups.[22]
Smoking rates explain a large part of the difference in life expectancy between different socio-economic groups (Indicator 24). In England between 1998 and 2005 smoking prevalence has decreased slightly for all groups from 28 per cent to 24 per cent. Within this, smoking rates amongst manual groups at 29 per cent remain 10 percentage points higher that for non-manual groups who have a smoking rate of 19 per cent.
For the three years that set the baseline (1995-97) the suicide plus undetermined injury death rate for England was 12 per 100,000 working-age adults. Suicide rates showed a downward trend in the first half of the 1990s, but in the late 1990s there were modest increases. Since 1998-2000 rates have fallen, and are now 10.8 per 100,000 working-age adults, their lowest for at least 30 years (Indicator 25).
Class A drug use amongst young people (aged 16-24) in England and Wales has remained stable since 1998. The latest information for 2005/06 shows 8.4 per cent reporting use of any Class A drug during the last year and 4.0 per cent reporting use of a Class A drug in the last month. However, frequent use of any drug has decreased from 11.6 per cent in 2002/03 to 9.5 per cent in 2005/06 (Indicator 27).
Homelessness
In June 1998, 1,850 people were estimated to be sleeping rough on the streets of England on any one night (Indicator 26). In June 2007 Housing Strategy and Statistical Appendix returns (supplied by local authorities) showed this level has fallen to 498 people – a figure which represents a 73 per cent reduction on the 1998 baseline level.
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