§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the numbers of people in work as a proportion of those over the state retirement age for each of the last 20 years. [96765]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Frank Field, dated 4 November 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary questions for time series of the numbers of people of working age and numbers of people in employment as a proportion of the population over working age.The data requested is shown in the table attached using estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS has been used because it can provide estimates of both overall populations and employment. For the periods shown there does not appear to be any trend in the first series and the second tends to have followed the economic cycle. The Labour Force Survey was conducted biannually in the United Kingdom between spring 1979 and spring 1983 and therefore estimates for 1980 and 1982 are not available.The LFS is a household survey and therefore people in communal establishments will generally be excluded. Around one in 20 people over the state retirement age are in such establishments compared with around one in 100 for those of working age. Consequently the ratio of the population of working age to that over retirement age would have been a little less if people in such establishments were included. Similar considerations apply to the other series.
Population of working age, and people of working age in employment as a proportion of the population over state retirement age UK, Spring quarters 1979–99, not seasonally adjusted Year Population of working age as a proportion of the population over state retirement age People of working age in employment as a proportion of the population over state retirement age 1979 3.50 2.56 1981 3.44 2.41 1983 3.46 2.33 1984 3.49 2.38 1985 3.47 2.40 1986 3.47 2.41 1987 3.47 2.43 1988 3.47 2.51 1989 3.47 2.57 1990 3.47 2.59 1991 3.47 2.53 1992 3.47 2.47 1993 3.47 2.44 1994 3.48 2.45 1995 3.48 2.48 1996 3.49 2.50 1997 3.49 2.53 1998 3.49 2.55 1999 3.50 2.57 Source:
ONS, Labour Force Survey
314W
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the numbers and percentage of workers in firms employing(a) below 10 workers, (b) from 10 to 50 workers, (c) from 50 to 100 workers and (d) over 100 workers, over the latest period for which he has data. [96235]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 29 October 1999]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Frank Field, dated 2 November 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question on the numbers and percentage of workers in firms employed in different size bands.The information requested is available from the Annual Employment Survey (AES) at September 1997 (latest available date) for the size bands shown.
Employee jobs' at September 1997, Great Britain Size band Thousand Percentage 1–10 4,528 20 11–49 5,787 26 50–99 2,695 12 100 and over 9,523 42 1 Figures exclude Agriculture as the way that information is supplied would distort the size band analysis