§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proportion of young people aged 18 to 24 years were in temporary employment in(a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1990–91 and (iii) 1995–96; and what was the proportion in the work force as a whole; [5280]
(2) what was the unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1990–91 and (iii) 1995–96; and what was the national average; [5281]
(3) what proportion of the work force was aged 18 to 24 years in (a) England and Wales and (b) London in (i) 1979–80, (ii) 1990–91 and (iii) 1995–96. [5279]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Don Foster, dated 27 November 1996:
303WThe Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply to your recent questions asking about 16–24 year olds in temporary employment, unemployment and the proportion of the workforce they constitute.The information available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is shown in the attached tables.The first year for which consistent data is available for all the tables is 1984. The available figures are for spring quarters from the LFS, i.e. March to May of each year. Claimant unemployment rates by age are only available for the UK as a whole and are published quarterly in table 2.15 of Labour Market Trends, available in the House of Commons Library. Information for England and Wales and London is only available from the LFS which uses the internationally standard International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition of unemployment. This is people without a job who were available to start work in the two weeks following their LFS interview and who had either looked for work in the four weeks prior to the interview or were waiting to start a job they had already obtained. The ILO unemployment rate is all those ILO unemployed as a percentage of the economically active (i.e. those who are either in employment or are ILO unemployed).I hope this is helpful.
Percentage of employees in temporary employment Aged 16–24 England and Wales London All aged 16+ England and Wales London Spring 1984 10.0 11.0 5.3 5.4 Spring 1990 9.5 10.7 5.3 6.0 Spring 1991 10.2 11.5 5.3 5.5 Spring 1995 13.1 13.0 7.0 8.2 Spring 1996 12.6 15.4 7.1 8.8 Source:
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics.
ILO unemployment rate1 (percentage) for 16–24 year olds Great Britain England and Wales London Spring 1984 19.4 18.9 16.7 Spring 1990 10.0 9.7 9.1 Spring 1991 13.5 13.3 15.0 Spring 1995 15.3 15.1 19.6 Spring 1996 14.8 14.6 17.2 1Those ILO unemployed as a percentage of all either employed or ILO unemployed. Source:
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics.
Percentage of 16–24 year olds within the economically active population of all ages1 England and Wales London Spring 1984 22.7 22.4 Spring 1990 20.6 18.8 Spring 1991 19.6 19.9 Spring 1995 16.0 14.7 Spring 1996 15.9 14.9 1The economically active population comprises all those either in employment or who are ILO unemployed. Source:
Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics.