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Employment and Disability from
the Annual Population Survey

December 2008

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a survey of households in Great Britain with the purpose to provide information on key social and socio-economic variables between the 10-yearly censuses.

The first publication of APS data covered the period January to December 2004. Subsequently, APS data has been published on a quarterly basis, but with each set of results covering a year's data.

This research monitor uses figures from the APS that consider employment, inactivity and disability rates in the Lancashire NUTS-2 area that comprises the Lancashire County Council area and the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. The full range of available data sets from the Annual Population Survey for all areas of the country can be downloaded from the (External) NOMIS website .

For the year to June 2008, there were a total of 279,739 people surveyed in Great Britain, with 6,157 of these interviews taking place in the broader Lancashire area. Broken down by the individual authorities, just over half the Lancashire interviews were undertaken in the two unitary authorities of Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. The impact of the interviews in these two authorities will therefore have a disproportionately high affect on the overall Lancashire results.

Results for Lancashire

Table 1 reveals that it is estimated that 647,600 or 73.7% of the working age population in the broader Lancashire area are in employment. In comparison, the Greta Britain percentage is higher at 74.5%. Of the total working age population 65.0% of those employed in Lancashire are employees, whilst a further 8.2% are self-employed. At the national level, the proportion self-employed is 1.2 percentage points higher.

Of the total inactive population of working age in Lancashire, approximately 46,200 would like a job, and it is estimated that 145,200 do not wish to have a job. At the national level, there is a slightly higher proportion of inactive people who want to have a job. Disability may be a factor that influences the level of inactivity and this area is explored in Table2.

Table 1 Economic Activity Status of the Working-Age Population, July 2007 to June 2008
 
Lancashire NUTS-2
Great Britain
No.
%
%
 
 
 
 
Total employment (1)
647,600
73.7
74.5
Employees (2)
571,500
65.0
64.7
Self-employed (2)
71,800
8.2
9.4
Inactive: want a job (1)
46,200
5.3
5.5
Inactive: do not want a job (1)
145,200
16.5
15.8
Notes (1) Percentage is of total working-age population.
(2) Percentage is of total working-age employment.
The groups do not sum exactly to 100% because there is a small percentage of working age people not allocated to any of the categories.
Source Annual Population Survey

Table 2 details employment rates in the county and nationally for disabled and non-disabled employees of working age. Not surprisingly, the rates for disabled workers are far lower than non-disabled workers. At the national level, 50.3% of disabled males of working age are estimated to be in employment whilst 47.1% of disabled females are in work. The Lancashire figures, which are based on a much smaller sample size and therefore are far more volatile, suggest that proportionately fewer disabled males are in work than compared with the national average, whilst for disabled females the proportion is slightly higher in the county.

Our Health and Wellbeing research monitors contain an article that uses 2001 Census data on the number of people in Lancashire with a limiting long-term illness . The monitor states that 137,199 or 9.7% of the working age population of the county were classified in this category. This compares with an England and Wales average of 8.3%.

Table 2 Employment Rates for Working-Age Disabled and Non-Disabled People, July 2007 to June 2008
 
Lancashire NUTS-2
Great Britain
No.
%
%
 
 
 
 
Disabled
87,700
46.8
50.3
Male disabled
46,000
46.5
51.9
Female disabled
41,700
48.5
47.1
 
 
 
 
Not disabled
559,900
81.0
80.0
Male not disabled
313,700
86.8
84.8
Female not disabled
246,300
74.7
74.8
Source Annual Population Survey

This page was compiled by Bryan Moulding .

All enquiries from the media should be sent to Corporate.Communications@lancashire.gov.uk .

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