Working and Workless Households, 4th Quarter 2004 to 2011

Key Figures

In October to December 2011 there were 3.9 million workless households.  Workless households include at least one person aged 16 to 64 and all adults aged 16 or over are either unemployed or inactive.  In the same period, there were 11.1 million households including at least one person aged 16 to 64 where all adults worked and 5.7 million containing both working and workless members known as mixed households.

Percentage of households where no adults work, October to December 2004 to 2011, United Kingdom

Source: Labour Force Survey - Office for National Statistics

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Within the 3.9 million workless households, there were 5.5 million people aged 16-64 and 1.9 million children under 16 living in them.

Households where no adults work by household type and region

Households where no adults work by household type

Looking at different household types, lone parent households with dependent children had the highest percentage of workless households at 38.8 per cent whilst couple households with dependent children had the lowest at 5.2 per cent.  22.0 percent of all households without dependent children were workless compared to 13.6 percent of all households with dependent children.

Households where no adults work by region

Of the regions in England and countries of the UK, the North East had the highest percentage of workless households at 25.7 per cent whilst South East had the lowest at 14.5 per cent.  Of the four countries of the UK, Wales had the highest percentage of workless households, at 21.6 per cent with the lowest percentage in England at 18.6 per cent.

Background notes

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   These National Statistics are produced to high professional standards and released according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Background Information

These estimates are based on the Labour Force Survey and relate to October to December 2011.  The October to December series goes back to 2004.  Statistics on working and workless households are also published each year for April to June with a longer time series going back to 1996.  As the data is not seasonally adjusted the April to June series should not be compared directly with the October to December series.  The latest data for April to June will be published at the end of August 2012.