Economic Activity Rates

HC Deb 24 July 2000 vol 354 cc432-4W

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate, on the basis of the Labour Force Survey, the economic activity rates for(a) men and (b) women in each region and nation with (i) no long-term health problems, (ii) long-term health problems, (iii) long-term musculo-skeletal problems, (iv) chest problems, (v) heart problems, (vi) mental illnesses and (vii) learning difficulties. [130801]

Ms Jowell

[holding answer 17 July 2000]The economic activity rates for men and women with and without long-term health problems, in each region and nation in the UK are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Economic activity rates by gender, region and presence or absence of long-term health problems
Percentage
	No long-term health problem	Long-term health problem 1
	Male	Female	Male	Female
North East	90.5	76.5	54.6	48.5
North West	92.2	78.8	62.5	51.2
Merseyside	87.5	73.7	51.0	46.1
Yorkshire and Humberside	90.4	79.1	65.9	54.9
East Midlands	92.3	79.6	68.0	61.2
West Midlands	90.7	77.4	64.9	57.9
Eastern	91.8	78.5	73.5	61.1
London	88.0	74.1	64.9	55.1
South East	93.2	80.0	75.2	68.7
South West	92.2	81.0	72.7	63.9
Wales	89.9	77.5	53.2	46.0

Table 2: Economic activity rates by gender, region and types of long-term health problem
Percentage
	Problems connected with arms, hands, legs, feet, back or neck1	Chest or breathing problems, asthma, bronchitis	Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problems
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
North East	43.2	42.3	85.5	59.9	45.2	65.8
North West	61.8	46.4	79.5	66.8	57.5	56.9
Merseyside	50.2	36.5	62.5	66.1	47.3	2—
Yorkshire and Humberside	67.2	50.7	78.6	63.5	64.2	55.2
East Midlands	68.4	56.3	81.7	74.1	69.6	72.7
West Midlands	63.5	53.8	76.5	71.6	63.3	60.0
Eastern	67.0	58.4	86.8	71.3	77.0	66.7
London	60.5	51.6	81.8	67.5	71.9	57.9
South East	72.1	66.7	87.6	77.0	72.0	69.9
South West	71.4	61.6	84.8	71.6	68.5	64.2
Wales	50.5	36.5	68.0	61.1	44.9	56.6
Scotland	54.4	38.7	74.3	70.0	55.3	64.1
Northern Ireland	54.1	28.0	61.7	2—	2—	2—
Total UK	62.5	50.8	80.0	69.1	62.8	62.0
1 The labour force survey does not have a classification for musculo-skeletal problems. This category presented covers problems or disabilities connected with arms or hands, legs or feet, back or neck (including arthritis and rheumatism).
2 Number of cases is too few to be reliable so the estimate is not shown.

Figures for the incidence of mental illness and learning difficulties, when broken down by region are mainly less than 10,000 cases, which is below the publication threshold for data from the Labour Force Survey. Figures below this level are unreliable; therefore, only national estimates can be given, and these are presented in Table 3.

Table 3: Economic activity rates by gender and mental illness and learning difficulties in the UK
Percentage
	Total UK
Mental illness 1
Male	28.7
Female	25.6
Learning difficulties 2
Male	45.9
Female	30.5
1 Mental illness, phobias, panics or other nervous disorders, depression, bad nerves or anxiety.
2 Severe or specific learning difficulties.

Note:

All figures taken from the Labour Force Survey (Spring 2000, UK).

Table 1: Economic activity rates by gender, region and presence or absence of long-term health problems
Percentage
	No long-term health problem	Long-term health problem 1
	Male	Female	Male	Female
Scotland	91.8	80.1	57.7	50.1
Northern Ireland	87.0	67.9	50.1	40.5
Total UK	91.0	78.0	65.1	56.3
1 Long-term health problem refers to a problem lasting more than 12 months

Table 2 presents a breakdown of the figures given in Table 1, by the following types of long-term health problem: musculo-skeletal, chest problems, and heart problems.