Economic Inactivity
Rate falls to 21.2% reversing 2001 rise
Working age inactivity rate, United Kingdom
The UK working age inactivity rate fell in 2002 from 21.5 per cent in October-December 2001 to 21.2 per cent in October-December 2002. This supports the suggestion of a pickup in employment, particularly towards the end of 2002, and reverses the increase from 21.2 per cent to 21.5 per cent in the previous year.
The decline in inactivity in 2002 was particularly evident in the older age groups. There were falls of 0.5 and 1.1 percentage points for those aged 35 to 49 and those aged between 50 years old and retirement age, respectively.
There was an increase in inactivity among 16 to 17 year olds, from 44.1 to 44.4 per cent. This may be due to more people staying at school until they are 18. Similarly there was also a rise in inactivity (0.8 percentage points) among the 18 to 24 age group.
Working age inactivity rate: by gender, United Kingdom
Working age inactivity levels fell for both men and women during 2002. The decline was greater for females than males – a decrease of 44,000 compared with 16,000. Inactivity rates also fell. The male inactivity rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 15.8 per cent, while the female rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 26.9 per cent.
Changes in working age inactivity varied across the country in 2002. There were large falls in Wales (2.8 percentage points), Northern Ireland (1.7 percentage points), Scotland (0.9 percentage points)and the North West of England (1.0 percentage point).
Most other regions experienced smaller falls. Inactivity rates only increased in the North East, London and the East of England, by 0.7, 0.7 and 0.8 percentage points respectively.
Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics
Notes: Changes over 2002 compare October-December 2001 to October-December 2002.
Working age inactivity rate is the proportion of the working age population that is inactive. The working age population comprises men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. The economically inactive are people who are employed on unemployed on the ILO measure. They comprise: people who want a job but have not been seeking work in the past 4 weeks; those who want a job and are seeking but are not available to start; and those who do not want a job.
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