Long Term Unemployed People
(asked on 28th January 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the number of people classed as long term unemployed; and how that figure compares to the number before the covid-19 outbreak.
Those who are classified as long term unemployed have been out of work and are available for and searching for employment for 12 months or more. The latest data available, from the independent Office for National Statistics, covering Sep-Nov ’21, is summarised in the table below.
| Total (aged 16+) | Rate (aged 16+) |
Latest (Sep-Nov ’21) | 428,000 | 30.9 % |
Change since Covid-19 (Dec-Feb ’20) | +121,000 | +8.4 %pts |
Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
We have launched 'Way to Work’, a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million people currently out of work into jobs in the next five months. We will be bringing employers into jobcentres and matching them up with claimants. This is good news for employers who need to fill vacancies and for our claimants.