Northern Ireland
Children in workless households
Key points
- With an apparently sharp fall since 2004, the number of children who are in workless households has now almost halved over the last decade.
- Around 50,000 children now live in workless households. Around three-quarters of them are in lone parent households.
- Half of all children of lone parents live in households that are workless. This compares to only one in twenty of couples with dependent children.
- The proportion of children who are in workless households in Northern Ireland is similar to the United Kingdom average.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By household type
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Graph 3: Compared to GB
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the number of children living in households in which none of the working-age adults is in paid work. The data is separated by household type, namely couple households, lone parent households and other households.
The second graph shows how the proportion of children living in households in which none of the working-age adults is in paid work varies by household type. To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
The third graph shows how the proportion of children living in households in which none of the working-age adults are in paid work in Northern Ireland compares with the regions of Great Britain. To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
The data source for all the graphs is the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the data relates to the United Kingdom. The data for each year is the average for the 2nd and 4th quarters, analysis by household type not being available for the 1st and 3rd quarters. In line with ONS methods, children comprise all those under the age of 16 (i.e. not including people aged 16 to 18 in full-time education).
Overall adequacy of the indicator: high. The LFS is a large, well-established, quarterly government survey, designed to be representative of the population as a whole.