§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the present number of highly qualified people. of first degree or equivalent status; and what estimate has been made of the number of such people by 1981–82.
§ Mr. DunnThis information is not available and it is not really possible, nor would it be helpful, to attempt to provide a meaningful estimate. However, the number of people with at least a first degree or equivalent at the time of the 1971 census was 20,805.
§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of the total labour force is accounted for by the highly qualified; how many in 452W percentage terms are economically active in the age group 18 to 64 years; and what changes there have been since the last census of population in the areas of work in which they seek employment.
§ Mr. ConcannonThe highly qualified economically active—comprising those in categories "a", "b" and "c" as defined by the Registrar General in his report on the 1971 Census of Population —accounted for 8.2 per cent.—males 7.0 per cent. and females 10.8 per cent. of the total labour force at April 1971.
The highly qualified economically active in the age groups 18 to 64 accounted for 6.7 per cent.—males 7.1 per cent. and females 6.4 per cent.—of the population in these age groups at April 1971.
Information on the changes in the areas of work since 1971 of the highly qualified will not be available until after the 1981 Census of Population.