§ Mr. Whiteheadasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many and what percentage of (a) all 16-year-olds, (b) all 17-year-olds, (c) all 18-year-olds and (d) all 16 to 19-year-olds are either (i) registered unemployed or (ii) youth opportunities programme students.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe information is not available in the form requested, but on 9 April, the latest date for which the quarterly unemployment by age analysis is available, there were the following numbers of young people registered as unemployed in Great Britain:
Age group Number registered as unemployed Unemployment rate Under 18 148,738 17.4 18 112,952 17.2 Under 20 390,230 17.7 The unemployment rate expresses the number unemployed in that age group as a percentage of the estimated number of employees—both employed and unemployed—in that age group. While these figures are expressed to one decimal place, they should not be regarded as implying precision to that degree.
It is estimated that at the end of April there were some 135,000 young people aged under 19 on the youth opportunities programme. This represents about 8 per cent. of the estimated number of employees—both in employment and unemployed—and those on the youth opportunities programme in that age group.