§ Lord Howell of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of households in the United Kingdom are without a wage-earner; and what are the comparable percentages for France and Germany. [HL1093]
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the National Statistician, Len Cook, dated 9 February 2005.
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the percentage of households in the United Kingdom without a wage earner and the comparable percentages for France and Germany.
The most recent available information was published by the Office for National Statistics in January 2005 in the first release Work and Worklessness among Households.
Drawing upon this source, 15.8 per cent of working age households were classed as workless in autumn 2004, the latest period available.
In the UK first release, a working age household is a household that includes at least one person of working age, that is, a man aged 16 to 64 or a woman aged 16 to 59. A workless household is a working age household where no one aged 16 or over is in employment.
Comparable percentages for France and Germany are not available.