§ Miss Joan Lestorasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of women in the work force; how many women are registered as unemployed; and what proportion this represents of total women workers for each year since 1977.
§ Mr. AlisonIn June 1981 there were 10,086,000 women in the working population in the United Kingdom, including 763,000 registered as unemployed.
Unemployment rates for women for each June since 1977 are as follows:
Per cent 1977 4.1 1978 4.3 1979 4.2 1980 5.3 1981 7.7 The unemployment rate is calculated by expressing the unemployed as a percentage of all employees —both in employment and unemployed. This differs from the working population, which in addition to employees includes the self-employed and members of Her Majesty's Forces.