Northern Ireland
Work and religion
Key points
- Employment rates are somewhat lower for Catholics than for Protestants, , but the differences have reduced in recent years. In 2007, 67% of working-age Catholics were working compared to 72% of working-age Protestants, a difference of five percentage points. A decade ago, 60% of working-age Catholics were working compared to 72% of working-age Protestants, a difference of twelve percentage points.
- For all age groups, unemployment rates for Catholics are higher than for Protestants. On average, 4% of working-age Catholics are unemployed compared with 2½% of working-age Protestants. In absolute terms, the gap is similar at all ages.
- For all age groups, economic inactivity rates for Catholics are higher than for Protestants. The differences are particular great in the older age groups and, for example, around 40% of Catholics aged in their 50s are working compared with 30% of Protestants.
Graph 1: Over time
View Graph as PDF (resizeable) Right click to save large version of Graph as PNG
Graph 2: Unemployment
View Graph as PDF (resizeable) Right click to save large version of Graph as PNG
Graph 3: Economic inactivity
View Graph as PDF (resizeable) Right click to save large version of Graph as PNG
Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows, over time, the proportion of the working-age population who are employed, with the data shown separately for Catholics and Protestants.
The second graph shows, for the latest year, how the proportion of the population who are unemployed for selected age groups in Northern Ireland varies between Catholics and Protestants.
'Unemployment' is the ILO definition, which is used for the official government unemployment numbers. It comprises all those with no paid work in the survey week who were available to start work in the next fortnight and who either looked for work in the last month or were waiting to start a job already obtained.
The third graph shows how the proportion of the population who are economically inactive varies by age and religious denomination.
The economically inactive are those who are neither working nor unemployed. It includes both people who want paid work but are not actively seeking it plus those who do not want paid work.
The data source for all the graphs is the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The figures for each year are the average for the four quarters of the relevant year. To improve statistical reliability, the data in the second and third graphs is averaged over the latest three years.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: high. The LFS is large, a well-established, quarterly government survey designed to be representative of the population as a whole.