HC Deb 12 April 2000 vol 348 cc161-2W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the number of(a) men and (b) women in (i) full-time and (ii) part-time work who are aged (1) over 90, (2) 85 to 90, (3) 80 to 85, (4) 75 to 80, (5) 70 to 75 and (6) 65 to 70 years. [118648]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 12 April 2000: The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question on people of various age groups who are in employment. I am replying in the Director's absence. The attached table shows non-seasonally adjusted estimates from the Labour Force (LFS) which is the main source of labour market data on individuals. It gives the average number of men and women in full or part-time employment by age group between winter (December to February) 1998/9 and autumn (September to November) 1999. The estimates for groups over 80 years of age have been combined in the table as those for the individual age groups requested proved to be statistically unreliable. People aged 16 or over are classed as in employment by the LFS if they have done at least one hour of paid work (as an employee or self-employed) in the week prior to their LFS interview of if they have a job that they are temporarily away from. People who do unpaid work in a family business and people on Government-supported training and employment programmes are also included according to the International Labour Organisation convention.

People in employment (working full or part-time by age and gender) UK, annual average, winter 1998–99 to autumn 1999
Thousand
Age group All in employment1 In full-time employment In part-time employment
Men
65–69 180 69 111
70–74 68 17 51
75–79 24 2 20
80 or over 10 2 9
Women
65–69 112 12 99
70–74 36 2 32
75–79 13 2 12
80 or over 6 2 2
1 Includes people who did not state whether they work full or part-time.
2 Sample size too small for reliable estimate.

Source:

Labour Force Survey, ONS