Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Monday, 8 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 March 2010. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 March 2010 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Unemployment

Question
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 1 March 2010, Official Report, columns 995-6W, on unemployment, how many economically inactive people of working age who were long-term sick or disabled wanted employment in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each of the last eight quarters.
Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:"As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many economically inactive people of working age who were long-term sick or disabled wanted employment in (a) each of the last 10 years and (b) each of the last eight quarters. (321641)""Estimates of economic inactivity are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, people are classed as economically inactive if they are neither in employment nor unemployed. The estimates provided comprise those who have not been looking for work in the last four weeks, but who say they would like a regular paid job, plus those who have been looking for work but who were unable to start within two weeks.""These estimates are published in the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin Historical Supplement which is available on the National Statistics website via the following link:"http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LMS_FR_HS/WebTable13.xls"As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Indications of the sampling variability of LFS aggregate estimates are provided in the Statistical Bulletin."

Economically inactive, long-term sick or disabled people of working age¹ who want a job², United Kingdom, seasonally adjusted
Total (thousand)
October to December quarter:
2000 744
2001 753
2002 752
2003 670
2004 634
2005 615
2006 611
2007 618
Latest eight quarters:
2008
January to March 664
April to June 658
July to September 653
October to December 628
2009
January to March 599
April to June 618
July to September 659
October to December 676
¹ Men aged 16 to 64 and women aged 16 to 59.
² Those who had not been looking for work in the four weeks prior to interview but who said they would like a regular paid job, plus those who had been looking for work but had been unable to start within two weeks.
Source:
ONS Labour Force Survey

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
507 c813-4W; 321641
Session
2009-10
Related items
Unemployment
Monday, 1 March 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Disability Unemployment
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk