UK's economic inactivity crisis deepens as rate rises for younger workers amid ... trends now
View
comments
Britain's economic inactivity crisis has deepened with rates climbing among younger workers.
The proportion of 16 to 34-year-olds in the category increased in the quarter to January, offsetting rises in activity among older age groups.
The bump also outweighed a sharp decline in the number of stay-at-home parents.
The number of women saying they are out of the jobs market due to looking after families or households is now at the lowest on record, 1.342million. That is down from 2.9million in 1993.
Overall, 9.25million Brits are now classed as economically inactive - up 100,000 on the previous quarter and equivalent to 21.8 per cent of the adult population.
Nearly 2.5million of those are long-term sick, compared to 2.17million just before Covid struck in 2020.
The official figures came as separate analysis suggested 3.9million people are claiming means-tested benefits with no requirement to look for work.
Stats compiled for The Times by consultancy Policy in Practice indicated that crackdowns on jobless handouts might have pushed up sickness claims, as numbers have spiked by a fifth in the past three years.
The government has been scrambling to find ways of getting more people back into the labour market, hoping to fill vacancies, drive economic productivity and reduce the burden on the state.
The Office for
