§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate the Government have made of the cost to the Exchequer of men and women over the age of 50 who are long-term unemployed in each year since 1997. [186937]
§ Jane KennedyFigures on the direct benefit costs for long term unemployed people aged over 50 are in the following table. Official estimates are not available for wider aspects of cost such as tax payments forgone. 1373W
Benefit expenditure on men and women over the age of 50 who are long term unemployed1 £ million 1997–98 405 1998–99 378 1999–00 333 2000–01 316 2001–02 239 2002–03 235 2003–042 232 Notes: 1Figures include expenditure on Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based), and on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit paid with JSA(IB). Figures are expressed in nominal terms and are rounded to the nearest million. 2 Estimated outturn. Source: Figures are based on four quarterly averages from DWP IAD Information Centre. "Long term unemployed" has been taken to mean greater than or equal to 52 weeks.