New figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that the number of working-age people living in households where no one has a job has increased by half a million over the past year, reaching a total of 4.8 million. The data also shows a rise of 170,000 in the number of children living in workless households, now totalling 1.9 million, which further challenges the government's child poverty targets.
The Conservatives have seized on the statistics, with shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May describing them as "scandalous". However, the increase in the proportion of workless households is only 1.1 percentage points over the last twelve months, to 3.3 million—the highest year-on-year rise since 1997 but still a modest figure.
Social policy experts note that even before the recession, roughly one in six homes had no one in work, suggesting that the current rise cannot be blamed solely on the economic downturn. The figures include various groups such as full-time carers, disabled individuals, those recuperating from illness, and early retirees, meaning some level of worklessness is inevitable. Experts estimate that if all who could work were employed, the workless household rate might fall to about one in ten.
Employment minister Jim Knight highlighted progress, noting 2.5 million more people in work than in 1997. However, the data underscores persistent challenges for any future government in tackling worklessness, especially amid tightening public spending.
