Wales
Wanting paid work
Key points
- 'Unemployment' is only part of the overall picture of people who lack, but want, paid work: three-fifths of all those who lack, but want, paid work are considered to be 'economically inactive', either because they are able to started work immediately or because they are not actively seeking work. Lone parents and those who are sick or disabled usually count as 'economically inactive' rather than 'unemployed'.
- There are 190,000 working-age people who want to be in paid work but are not. This compares to a figure of 240,000 a decade ago, a fall of around a fifth. It represents 11% of the working-age population.
- The number of people who are officially long-term unemployed has more than halved over the last decade. Both the number of officially short-term unemployed and the number who are economically inactive but want paid work have also fallen, but much more slowly.
- The majority (60%) of those who lack, but want, paid work are now not officially unemployed. Of these, the biggest group (20% of all those lacking but wanting paid work) are long-term sick or disabled.
- The proportion of the working-age population who are unemployed ranges from 6% in Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent to 2% in Flintshire.
- The proportion who are economically inactive but want paid work ranges from 9% in Blaenau Gwent to 3% in Conwy.
- Taken together, the proportion wanting work, whether 'unemployed' or 'economically inactive' is highest in the Valleys and lowest in the North (Gwynedd, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy) plus Powys and Monmouthshire. The proportion in Blaenau Gwent - 15% - is two-and-a-half times that in Powys.
- Whereas the Valleys score a bit worsen than the rest of Wales on unemployment, they score a lot worse than the rest of Wales on economically inactive but wanting paid work.
- The proportion of the working-age population who lack, but want, paid work is somewhat higher in Wales than in most other parts of the UK.
- For women of all ages, and for older men, those who are economically inactive but wanting paid work substantially outnumber the officially unemployed.
Graph 1: Over time
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Graph 2: By age/sex
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Graph 3: Shares
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Graph 4: by LA
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Map
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Graph 5: Compared to UK
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the number of people aged 16 to retirement who lack, but want, paid work. It is divided between the long-term unemployed, the short-term unemployed and those counted as 'economically inactive' who nevertheless want paid work.
'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 economically inactive who want paid work includes people not available to start work for some time and those not actively seeking work. The data is based on a question asking the economically inactive whether they would like paid work or not.
The second graph shows how the proportions either unemployed or economically inactive but wanting paid work vary by age and sex.
The third graph shows the proportions of those who lack, but want, paid work by group.
The fourth graph and map shows how the proportion of the population aged 16 to retirement who lack, but want, paid work varies by local authority.
The fifth graph shows how the proportion of the population of the population aged 16 to retirement who lack, but want, paid work in Wales compares with the rest of the UK, with the proportions who are unemployed and economically inactive but wanting paid work shown separately.
The data source for all the graphs bar the fourth is the Labour Force Survey (LFS). To improve statistical reliability, the figures for each year are the average for the four quarters of the relevant year. For the fourth graph and map, the data comes from the Annual Population Survey, which is effectively LFS with selected booster samples to compensate for small sample sizes in some authorities.
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.