Those who are not in work vary according to age.
Nearly 11 million people of working age in the UK are currently unemployed.
In the 2024 Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out several measures designed to encourage people to find work or increase their hours.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 4.4% of people were unemployed between February and April 2024.
This is up from the previous figure of 4.3% and the highest rate since September 2021.
This is approximately 1.5 million people.
Although there has been an increase in recent months, unemployment remains relatively low historically.
But the unemployed represent only a small part of the nearly 11 million people aged 16-64 who were not in a paid job in 2023.
About 9.4 million of them are not called “unemployed” and this is because they were not actively looking for work, or available to start a job.
Instead, this demographic is called “economically inactive”.
In fact, 1.7 million said they wanted a job compared to 1.44 million who are officially unemployed.
Who isn’t working and why?
Those who are not in work vary according to age.
ONS figures for 2023 show that the majority of the 2.7 million “inactive” under-25s were students and the majority of them did not want a job.
The main reasons that 3.5 million over-50s were out of the job market were illness and early retirement. Almost nobody who retired early said they wanted to return to work.
Among 25 to 49-year-olds, 1.1 million people did not work because of caring responsibilities.
Nearly one million people in this age demographic were not working due to illness.
Around half of people with disabilities did not have a paid job, a rate that is more than double the rest of the working-age population.
Less than 25% who were sick or caring said they wanted a job.
Is it an Issue?
A lot of people have chosen to do something else, whether it be studying, caring or retirement.
But for others, they do not have a choice.
Some people cannot afford childcare if they return to work, others are too ill while some have given up on finding a job.
When it comes to inactivity, the most common reasons were sickness and caring responsibilities.
The number of people not in work has a broader effect.
A smaller workforce means less tax to pay for services like the NHS, and greater spending on benefits.
Since people on benefits generally have less money to spend than those in work, it also means less spending on the high street.
That in turn is bad for businesses and how many people they need to employ.
That can subsequently affect how many jobs are available for those who are job hunting.
How does the UK compare with other Countries?
The UK’s “inactivity” rate has returned to the levels seen in 2015.
It is low by historical standards because each decade, more women have joined the workforce.
However, the recent trend is unusual.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, all major countries saw their workforce decrease.
But while the other leading economies have since recovered, the UK still has more people out of work than in 2019 – by over 1% of the working-age population.
Before the pandemic, the UK’s inactivity rate was the second-lowest in the G7 club of leading advanced economies, with only Japan’s lower.
This rise in inactivity puts the UK fourth out of seven, overtaking Germany and Canada but still below the US, France and Italy.
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the decrease since the pandemic that distinguishes the UK is due to ill-health being consistently “a bigger factor” in the country than in the other advanced economies.
How to get more People into Work?
In the Budget, the government announced several reforms to help some people get jobs or increase their hours.
The measures were particularly aimed at:
- Current workers
- Working parents receiving child benefits
- Those who are self-employed
- People claiming disability benefits
These included cutting the rate for national insurance contributions, extending free childcare to ensure single-earner households aren’t disadvantaged, and offering more support to help disabled people find paid employment.
Experts argue that broadening the pool of people given support to return to the job market is key.
Understanding the profile of unemployed individuals in the UK is essential for devising effective policies and support systems.
The unemployed population is diverse, encompassing a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, and skill levels.
Addressing unemployment in the UK requires a multifaceted approach that includes targeted job training programmes, educational opportunities and policies that promote inclusivity and equal access to employment.
Loading ...