Who are the millions of Britons not working?

By Robert Cuffe and Nicholas BarrettBBC Reality Check

About a quarter of people of working-age - around 10 million people - don't currently have jobs.

In the Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out a series of measures designed to encourage people to find work, or increase their hours.

How many people are unemployed?

Officially, about 1.3 million people in the UK were unemployed in December 2022: an unemployment rate of 3.7%, lower than any point since the 1970s.

But the unemployed represent only a small part of the 10 million working-age people (aged 16-64) who aren't in a paid job.

Nearly nine million of them aren't called "unemployed". That's because they're not actively looking for work, or available to start a job.

Instead these people are called "economically inactive".

In fact, more of them say they want a job (1.7 million people) than are officially unemployed.

Who isn't working - and why?

The main reasons for not working vary according to age.

Most of the 2.7 million "inactive" people under 25 are students, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The majority of them don't want a job.

You can see that in the graphic below. Click on the darker border surrounding any age group to see the spilt between men and women.

Things are different in other age groups.

The main reasons that 3.5 million over-50s are out of the job market are illness and early retirement. Almost nobody who has retired early says they want to return to work.

Among 25- to 49-year-olds, 1.1 million people don't work because of caring responsibilities (about a million of whom are women).

About 940,000 people in this age group are not working because of illness (more evenly split between men and women).

Around half of people with disabilities don't have a paid job, a rate that's more than double the rest of the working age population.

About a quarter of those who are sick or caring say they want a job.

Does it matter that people aren't looking for work?

Many people have chosen to do something else: studying, retirement or caring.

But for others it's not a choice.

Some people can't afford childcare if they return to work, others are too sick, or have given up on finding a job.

As the chart below shows, sickness and caring responsibilities are the most common reasons for inactivity given by those who actually would like a paid job.

The number of people not working has a broader effect.

A smaller workforce means less tax to pay for services like the NHS, and greater spending on benefits.

Since people on benefits generally have less money to spend than those in work, it also means less spending on the high street.

That in turn is bad for businesses and how many people they want to employ.

In turn, that can affect how many jobs are available for those who are job hunting.

How does the UK compare with other countries?

During the pandemic, all major countries saw their workforce shrink.

But while most leading economies have since recovered, the UK still has about 400,000 more people not working than in December 2019.

A House of Lords report from December 2022 highlighted reasons including an increase in early retirement and rising levels of sickness.

Since its publication, the number of retirees has fallen back to pre-pandemic levels.

It also said there was a mismatch between available jobs and those that might, for instance, tempt someone out of retirement.

For example, the vacancy rate is highest in restaurants and hotels - an industry often offering shifts, physically-demanding jobs and low wages.

What can be done to get more people into work?

A series of reforms were announced in the Budget to help some people get jobs or increase the hours they work. The measures were particularly aimed at:

• older workers
• people on benefits
• parents and carers of young children
• those with health conditions

These include letting people save more in private pensions, extending free childcare and offering more support to help disabled people find paid employment.

Broadening the pool of people given support to return to the job market is key, experts argue.

Helen Gray from the Learning and Work Institute believes job centres should widen their focus and offer more tailored support.

At present, "only one in 10 out-of-work older people and disabled people get help to find work each year," she says.

Louise Murphy from the Resolution Foundation says ministers must look beyond those who left work during the pandemic as many retirees, for example, may never come back.

She says the government should focus on supporting people with disabilities and long-term health problems, as well as parents with children.

Data visualisation by Nicu Calcea

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