§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) men aged 50 to 64 years and (b) women aged 50 to 59 years were not in employment in each year since 1997. [168155]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Willetts, dated 26 April 2004:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment among men and women aged over 50. (168155)
The attached table gives estimates of the number of men aged 50 to 64 years and women aged 50 to 59 years not in employment for three month periods ending February each year from 1998 to 2004, the most recent periods for which this information is available.
Estimates are taken from the Office for National Statistics' Labour Force Survey (LFS). As with any statistical sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to sampling variability.
Number of people who are not in employment in the United Kingdom (not seasonally adjusted)—Men aged 50–64 and women
aged 50–59, three month periods ending February, 1998–2004
Thousand Not in employment1
Unemployed Economically inactive
Men aged 50–64 and Women aged 50–59 1998 2,855 273 2,582 1999 2,833 269 2,564 2000 2,896 261 2,635 2001 2,842 226 2,615 2002 2,849 209 2,640 2003 2,777 227 2,550 2004 2,715 198 2,517 Men aged 50–64 1998 1,532 200 1,332 1999 1,520 191 1,329 2000 1,578 190 1,388 2001 1,526 166 1,360 2002 1,533 145 1,389 2003 1,491 163 1,327 2004 1,448 135 1,313 Women aged 50–59 1998 1,323 73 1,251 1999 1,313 78 1,235 2000 1,318 70 1,247 2001 1,316 61 1,255 2002 1,316 65 1,251 2003 1,286 64 1,222 2004 1,268 63 1,204 1 Not in employment includes unemployed and economically inactive Source: ONS-Labour Force Survey