There are over half a million fewer children living in long-term workless households since 2010. The number of children in lone parent households that are long-term workless has fallen 349,000 since 2010.
The number of children in long-term workless households has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, according to new statistics out today (1 November 2017). This is down 505,000 since 2010.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 9.3% of children, around 1.1 million, are in long-term workless households. This is the first time in at least a decade that the percentage figure has fallen below 10%.
The number of children living in lone parent households which are long-term workless has fallen 73,000 on the year. Around 9 in 10 children live in households with at least one working adult.
Minister for Employment, Damian Hinds said:
With more than 3 million people in work since 2010, we’re giving people the chance to find work and to achieve a regular household income.
We know that children growing up in working households do better in school and are more likely to be in work in adult life.
We will continue to build on this success and break the cycle of worklessness. At the heart of our welfare reforms is the goal to help people improve their lives.
More than 17.6 million households have at least one working adult. Less than 15% of households are classed as workless, with the number having fallen by 89,000 since last year.
Recent employment figures show that there are a near-record 32.1 million people in work, and the unemployment rate (4.3%) is the lowest since 1975.
Estimates for overall workless households are taken from the Office for National Statistics ‘Working and Workless Households in the UK: April to June 2017’, published in August.
Children who grow up in workless families are almost twice as likely as children in working families to not reach the expected attainment level at all stages of their education – research has shown that three-quarters of children in workless families fail to reach 5 full GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and maths.
Compared to children from working families, those from workless families are also more likely to be workless in adult life. The Improving Lives: Helping Workless Families policy paper includes research on the impact of children being in a working household.
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