Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 11 February 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many jobseekers have been receiving jobseeker's allowance for more than (a) 12 months and (b) two years; and what proportion of the workforce that represents in each such case.
I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated February 2013
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your two Parliamentary Questions asking how many ethnic minority jobseekers have been receiving jobseeker's allowance for more than (a) 12 months and (b) two years, and what proportion of the ethnic minority workforce that represents in each such case; and secondly how many jobseekers have been receiving jobseeker's allowance for more than (a) 12 months and (b) two years, and what proportion of the workforce that represents in each such case. (142321 & 142322)
The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) has been taken from the Jobcentre Plus Administrative system. The estimates of the number of people in the workforce have been taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The workforce has been defined as all those who are economically active, that is either employed or unemployed.
Table 1 shows the number of people in Great Britain, as at October 2012, who had been claiming JSA for over 12 months and for over 2 years, for all people and for ethnic minorities.
Table 2 shows the number of people in Great Britain claiming JSA as a percentage of people who were economically active, according to survey responses to the September 2012 to November 2012 LFS. This is the closest period to October 2012, for all people and for ethnic minorities. Although individual components in the table can be produced for more recent periods, October 2012 is the latest period for which all component series are available.
Estimates for Northern Ireland are not available.
National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at
Table 1: Number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance by length of claim, October 2012 | ||
Great Britain, not seasonally adjusted | ||
Claiming over 12 months | Claiming over 2 years | |
All people | 412,900 | 129,580 |
Ethnic Minorities(1) | 70,740 | 22,215 |
(1) Ethnic minorities are people who have reported their ethnicity as mixed/ multiple ethnic groups; Indian; Pakistani; Bangladeshi; Chinese; Any other Asian background; Black/African/Caribbean/Black British; Other ethnic group. Note: Rounded to nearest 5 Source: Jobcentre plus Administrative System |
Table 2: Percentage(1) of economically active people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance by length of claim, October 2012 | ||
Great Britain, not seasonally adjusted | ||
Claiming over 12 months | Claiming over 2 years | |
All people | 1.3 | 0.4 |
Ethnic Minorities(2) | 2.0 | 0.6 |
(1) Number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in October 2012 divided by the number of economically active people according to the September to November 2012 Labour Force Survey. (2) Ethnic minorities are people who have reported their as ethnicity mixed/ multiple ethnic groups; Indian; Pakistani; Bangladeshi; Chinese; Any other Asian background; Black/African/Caribbean/Black British; Other ethnic group. Source: Jobcentre plus Administrative System/ Labour Force Survey |
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