§ Mr. Colvinasked the Paymaster General if he will change the method of calculating the level of employment in the United Kingdom in order to take account of the black economy.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkThe Department's estimates of the numbers in employment are intended to be comprehensive. While they may exclude some people who work in the black economy, it is not possible to count the number of these exclusions.
Table 1—Employees in employment, Great Britain Mid year: Thousand Males Females Full-time Part-time All Full-time Part-time All 1959 — — 13,824 — — 7,159 1960 — — 14,031 — — 7,418 1961 — — 14,202 — — 7,586 1962 — — 14,309 — — 7,697 1963 — — 14,330 — — 7,731 1964 — — 14,460 — — 7,902 1965 — — 14,565 — — 8,055 1966 — — 14,551 — — 8,237 1967 — — 14,214 — — 8,133 1968 — — 14,013 — — 8,173 1969 — — 13,891 — — 8,257 1970 — — 13,706 — — 8,287 1971 12,840 584 13,424 5,467 2,757 8,224 1972 12,719 600 13,319 5,545 2,877 8,331 1973 12,813 665 13,478 5,542 3,163 8,705 1974 12,675 689 13,363 5,512 3,421 8,933 1975 12,542 697 13,240 5,422 3,551 8,973 1976 12,398 699 13,097 5,366 3,585 8,951 1977 12,395 681 13,076 5,433 3,617 9,050 1978 12,396 704 13,100 5,486 3,688 9,173 1979 — — 13,183 5,585 3,870 9,455 1980 — — 13,018 5,500 3,941 9,440 1981* — — 12,278 5,290 3,817 9,107 1982 — — 11,945 5,121 3,861 8,982 1983 — — 11,691 4,935 3,956 8,892 1984 — — 11,595 4,944 4,161 9,105 1985 — — 11,525 4,974 4,336 9,309 * In September 1981 there were 12,229,000 male employees of whom 11,511,000 were engaged full-time and 9,085,000 females of whom 5,304,000 worked full-time. Sources:
1971 to 1978—Census of Employment.
Other years—Quarterly employment series.
Figures for recent years from the labour force survey which provide a breakdown between full-time and part-time employment are given in table 2.
Table 2—Employees in employment,* Great Britain Spring: Thousand Males Females Full-time Part-time All Full-time Pan-time All 1979 12,892 277 13,169 5,317 3,705 9,022 1981 11,628 407 12,200 5,102 3,774 8,967 1983 11,262 362 11,648 4,959 3,596 8,714 1984 11,197 452 11,658 5,016 3,959 8,980 * An employee is shown as full-time or part-time according to whether he (or she) considers his job as a full-time or part-time one.