§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people in England and Wales are estimated to be working on a Sunday in the year 2000 compared with the year 1990; what percentage of the working population this represents; how many are estimated to be women; and how many are estimated to have children. [HL2344]
§ The Minister for Science, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)The latest available figures show that about 4.3 million people [n England and Wales said they usually worked on a Sunday in spring 1999, just under 20 per cent of all those in employment. Of this number, 1.8 million were women while 40 per cent of those who usually worked on Sunday had dependent children under 16 years of age. Full estimates are provided in the table below. Comparable information is not available for earlier years.
79WA
Frequency of Sunday working1 by sex and by whether respondents have dependent children (under 16 years of age) in England and Wales Usually work Sundays Ever work Sundays Never work Sunday Thousands Per cent Thousands Per cent Thousands Per cent All people Without dependent children 2,591 59.8 3.455 61.0 8,116 62.8 With dependent children 1,739 40.2 2,206 39.0 4,798 37.2 Total 4,329 100.0 5.662 100.0 12,914 100.0 Male Without dependent children 1,507 60.2 2,309 59.8 4.064 64.8 With dependent children 998 39.8 1.554 40.2 2,210 35.2 Total 2,505 100.0 3.863 100.0 6.275 100.0 Female Without dependent children 1.084 59.4 1,146 63.7 4,051 61.0 With dependent children 741 40.6 653 36.3 2,588 39.0 Total 1,825 100.0 1.799 100.0 6,640 100.0 Source:
Spring 1999 Labour Force Survey.
For all in employment, excluding those on college based schemes.
§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many companies are estimated to have drawn up contracts since the passage of the 1994 Sunday trading legislation requiring their employees to work on a Sunday. [HL2345]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleMy department collects no information on this subject.
§ Lord Alton of Liverpoolasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment has been made of the impact on health and stress and on the unity of family life since workers have been unable to take a shared day off from work following the 1994 Sunday trading legislation. [HL2346]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleMy department has conducted no assessment of the kind suggested. When the Sunday Trading Act 1994 deregulated Sunday shopping, it included provisions—now consolidated into the Employment Rights Act 1996—to ensure that all shopworkers, with the exception of those employed to work solely on Sundays, have the right to refuse to work on Sundays and to be protected against dismissal, selection for redundancy or other detrimental action for such refusal.