§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of persons not included in the unemployment figures who would welcome a job but do not register; and if he will describe how such a figure is arrived at and list the various categories included in this figure.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonIt is estimated that in 1979 about a third of a million people were seeking work but not registered as unemployed. About three quarters of these were women. These estimates are based on information from household surveys on the numbers of people over 16 and not in jobs or in full-time education who are seeking employment or waiting to take up employment, distinguishing those who are registered as unemployed from those who are not.
There is no reason to believe that the scale of these figures is now substantially different.