§ 18. Mr. Redmondasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the accuracy of the statistics in his Department relating to the female activity rate in various travel-to-work areas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithNew estimates will be available from the 1971 Census of Population.
§ Mr. RedmondAm I right in assuming that the female activity rate for any area means the percentage of women over the age of 15 who normally go out to work, or are seeking work? That being so, would my hon. Friend not agree that the 813 females of Bolton would be much more active if there were jobs available to them? Are not these figures, therefore, just as inaccurate as the general unemployment figures? What is the point of statistics, anyway?
§ Mr. SmithBased on the last Census figures, the female activity rate in the County Borough of Bolton was 47.2 per cent., which was above that for the North-West region, which was 44.7 per cent., and above that for Great Britain as a whole. I agree that these matters are difficult. The activity rates by themselves are not a particularly realiable indicator of labour reserves in particular areas. I think that my hon. Friend knows that we have had an interdepartmental working party on the question of the presentation and the make-up of unemployment statistics. I hope that its report will be published fairly shortly.