FOI reference: FOI-2026-3733
You asked
In January 2021 the ONS supplied me with a table from the Annual Population Survey giving the number of people who have never worked (variable EVERWK, weighted with PWTA18), for the period October 2019 to September 2020, broken down by age group and by region and local authority. I would like the same analysis updated, plus a time series.
1. For the most recent 12-month APS period for which data is available, the number of people in the UK who have never worked, by age group: 16 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64, all 16 to 64, and 65 and over.
2. For the same period, the number of people who have never worked (a) by region and country of the UK and (b) by local authority, for all UK local authorities. Please provide the figures for all people aged 16 and over and, if it can be done within the cost limit, separately for those aged 16 to 64.
3. A ten-year time series of the headline figure: the number of people aged 16 to 64 in the UK who have never worked, for each of the ten most recent 12-month APS periods (October to September, or whichever 12-month periods are available), ending with the period used in questions 1 and 2. If it is readily available, please also give the total 16 to 64 population estimate for each period so that a rate can be calculated.
Please state the period covered and the weighting used for each table. If any period is unavailable because of the changes to the APS and Labour Force Survey since 2023, please supply the nearest available period and say which it is. I would be grateful for the data in Excel format.
We said
Thank you for your request relating to the number of people who have never worked and the availability of breakdowns by age and geography.
We collect information on people who have never worked through the Annual Population Survey (APS), which is based on
interviews with people resident in private households across the UK. Total 16 to 64 population estimates for Annual Population Survey (APS) datasets are available through the NOMIS webservice.
We have not previously produced an output showing the information you have requested. This can therefore be produced as bespoke analysis from our Social Surveys Customer Service team. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs, in line with our charging policy. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact socialsurveys@ONS.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
It may also be of interest to know that users can undertake their own analysis using APS microdata available through the UK Data Service, subject to the relevant access conditions. Users should consult the dataset documentation to determine whether the data meet their analytical requirements. There are also sample size limitations to how granular estimates can be. As a result, estimates of the number of people who have never worked at local authority level may be subject to high sampling variability and should be interpreted with caution.
You may also be interested in our publications on households where all members have never worked, people in households where all members have never worked, and other related datasets associated with our Working and Workless Households in the UK publication. These estimates are based on Labour Force Survey (LFS) data collected through interviews with people resident in private households across the UK.