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18 An increase in the proportion of working-age people in employment, over the economic cycle (Great Britain).
Baseline and trends: Baseline year – 1997. The proportion of the working-age population in employment increased to a peak of 74.9 per cent in 1990, falling subsequently to 70.5 per cent in 1993 during the recession. The proportion in employment then rose to 72.9 per cent in 1997 (the baseline year) and continued to rise to 75.0 per cent in 2004. Since then, there has been a slight decrease in the employment rate to 74.6 per cent in 2006. Spring 2006 was the last Labour Force Survey quarter published on a seasonal basis. As of Quarter 2 2006, the LFS moved to a calendar quarter basis (January to March, April to June, etc). However, seasonally-adjusted data are available at a national level throughout the period and so the figures remain comparable. The proportion of working-age people in employment in 2007 (the three months to June) was 74.5 per cent.
Employment rates for men were just over ten percentage points higher than for women in 1997, compared with 8.6 per cent in 2006, indicating a narrowing of the gap. In 2007 the gap was 9.1 percentage points.
Percentage of working-age people in employment (Great Britain)
| 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | 68.5% | 69.4% | 69.5% | 70.3% | 72.6% | 74.4% | 74.9% | 73.1% | 71.4% | 70.5% | 70.9% | 71.4% | |
| Men | 77.7% | 78.0% | 77.5% | 77.9% | 80.4% | 82.0% | 82.3% | 79.7% | 76.7% | 75.2% | 75.8% | 76.5% | |
| Women | 58.5% | 59.9% | 60.8% | 62.0% | 64.1% | 66.2% | 66.8% | 66.0% | 65.6% | 65.5% | 65.7% | 66.0% | |
| 1996 | Baseline 1997 |
1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007* | ||
| All | 72.0% | 72.9% | 73.4% | 73.9% | 74.6% | 74.8% | 74.6% | 74.8% | 75.0% | 74.9% | 74.6% | 74.5% | |
| Men | 76.7% | 77.8% | 78.4% | 78.8% | 79.5% | 79.6% | 79.2% | 79.4% | 79.5% | 79.1% | 78.8% | 78.9% | |
| Women | 66.9% | 67.6% | 68.1% | 68.8% | 69.4% | 69.7% | 69.8% | 69.9% | 70.1% | 70.3% | 70.2% | 69.8% | |
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Read table notes Note: The figures for the years up to 1992 have not been seasonally adjusted, while those for 1992 onwards have been seasonally adjusted; the two sets are therefore not directly comparable. The figures for the years up to 1992 are for Great Britain and differ from the last Opportunity for all which contained figures for United Kingdom. Some figures from 1992 onwards differ slightly from the last Opportunity for all report due to population reweighting and seasonal adjustment by the Office for National Statistics. * The figures refer to Spring (March-May) of each year, except 2007 which refers to Q2 (April to June). |
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Definition: Proportion of working-age people in employment. Working age is 16 – 59 for women and 16 – 64 for men.
Data source: Labour Force Survey, easonally adjusted data, published on www.statistics.gov.uk and in Table 18 of the Office for National Statistics Labour Market Statistics First Release. 2007 data is drawn from calendar quarter (Q2) data..
Further information
Detailed national labour market data is available from the Office for National Statistics.
The time series for this indicator, along with breakdowns by Government Office Regions, and by gender, is available at: www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/LMS_FR_HS/WebTable18sa.xls
Information on the PSA target relating to national employment can be found in the DWP Departmental Report 2006, chapter 3: www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2006/dr06
Research Evidence
“Newborns and new schools: Critical times in women’s employment”
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep308.pdf 
“Gateways to Work New Deal 25 Plus pilots evaluation”
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep366.pdf
“Part-time work and social security: increasing the options?”
www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep351.pdf
Further Breaks
Rural Urban analysis
Analysis: Rural Urban Classification at Local Authority level - England1
Baseline data: 1997 2
Current data: 2006
Economic activity of working age3 population
- Reporting in 2006 there has been an increase in the percentage of working age people employed in rural and urban areas of England, 73.4% in 1997 to 74.6% in 2006.
- Of all Rural working age people 77.2% were employed in 1997 compared with 78.3% in 2006.
- From 1997 to 2006 the biggest increase in employment in all rural areas has been in the category Rural R80, from 77.6% to 79.2%. In comparison a larger percentage increase has been recorded in the urban category, Large Urban, from 71.5% to 73.7%.
More information at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/ruralstats/ofa.htm