1 in 5 Working Age People Economically Inactive: ONS
Published on June 12, 2024
More than a fifth of the working age population in the UK is economically inactive, a rate driven in part by rising long-term sickness, official statistics show. Between February and April 2024, an estimated 9.43 million people aged 16 to 64 were not in employment and not looking for work, a rise of 1.4 percent on the previous quarter and 4.3 percent higher than in the same quarter last year, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday. The ONS said that the annual rise was “largely because of students and those who were long-term sick.” Statisticians also revealed that those who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness had reached 2.83 million, a record high since 1993....