1. Main points
In 2022, 1.1 million children (8.8%) lived in long-term workless households, down 0.1 percentage points on the previous year.
Approximately 84.3% of children in workless households lived in long-term workless households.
The lowest percentage of children in long-term workless households was in the South East (6.1%).
The highest percentage of children in long-term workless households was in the North East (13.5%).
2. Children living in long-term workless households in the UK data
Children living in long-term workless households (Table A1)
Dataset | Released on 25 October 2023
Annual estimates of the number of children living in households in the UK where all the adults have not worked for at least 12 months.
Children living in long-term workless households, by combined economic status (Table B)
Dataset | Released on 25 October 2023
Annual estimates of the number of children living in households in the UK where all the adults have not worked for at least 12 months, by combined economic status of adults in the household.
Children living in long-term workless households, by region (Table D)
Dataset | Released on 25 October 2023
Annual estimates of the number of children living in households in the UK where all the adults have not worked for at least 12 months, by region of residence.
3. Measuring the data
Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets are used for the analysis of family or household characteristics. For all analysis in this bulletin, a household is defined as containing at least one person aged 16 to 64 years. This bulletin focuses on the number of children living in workless households (households where no adult is in employment) and long-term workless households (households where no adult has worked in the previous 12 months).
Coronavirus
For more information on how labour market data sources are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see our Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics article.
For a comparison of our labour market data sources and the main differences, see our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.
Back to table of contents5. Cite this statistical bulletin
Office for National Statistics (ONS), published 25 October 2023, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Children living in long-term workless households in the UK: 2022