Economic activity
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who are either in work or looking for work, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2024, 80% of 25 to 29 year olds from lower working class backgrounds were economically active – the lowest percentage out of all socio-economic backgrounds. Percentages in all other socio-economic groups were between 88% and 91%.
In the 3 years to 2024:
- 89% of 25 to 29 year olds from higher professional backgrounds were economically active – down from 90% in the 3 years to 2016
- 79% of 25 to 29 year olds from lower working class backgrounds were economically active – up from 77% in the 3 years to 2016
Between the 3 years to 2016 and the 3 years to 2024, economic activity for young men from a lower working class background went down by 4 percentage points. It went up by 7 percentage points for young women from the same background.
Data for 2014 to 2024 combined shows that:
- young women were less likely to be economically active than young men from the same socio-economic background – the gap was largest in the lower working class group, where 72% of young women and 86% of young men were economically active
- young people from the Black Caribbean ethnic group had the highest rates of economic activity compared with those in other ethnic groups from similar socio-economic backgrounds – 92% of those from lower working backgrounds and 97% from higher professional backgrounds were economically active
- young people from the Chinese ethnic group has the lowest rates – 63% of those from lower working backgrounds and 82% of those from higher professional backgrounds were economically active
- among young White British people, 86% from lower working backgrounds and 94% from higher professional backgrounds were economically active
- young people with a disability were less likely to be economically active than those without a disability from the same socio-economic background – the ‘disability gap’ was largest for those with working class backgrounds, at 37 percentage points
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were economically active, by socio-economic background (UK, 2024)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 88.5 |
| Lower professional | 90.7 |
| Intermediate | 88.3 |
| Higher working | 89.5 |
| Lower working | 79.8 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
Changes over time
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were economically active by socio-economic background and sex (UK, 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | Men | Women | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) | Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) | Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) | |
| 2022 to 2024 | 84.3 | 94.4 | 90.6 | 92.4 | 89.1 | 74.3 | 82.4 | 86.6 | 89.2 | 89.7 | 79.2 | 88.7 | 88.6 | 90.8 | 89.4 |
| 2021 to 2023 | 83.0 | 93.0 | 91.3 | 93.1 | 91.1 | 73.4 | 82.6 | 87.1 | 90.0 | 88.8 | 78.1 | 88.2 | 89.3 | 91.5 | 90.0 |
| 2020 to 2022 | 83.0 | 91.5 | 92.2 | 91.8 | 92.2 | 76.3 | 82.3 | 86.4 | 89.1 | 88.8 | 79.6 | 87.1 | 89.4 | 90.4 | 90.6 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 83.1 | 91.6 | 93.5 | 92.3 | 93.4 | 75.2 | 82.1 | 86.7 | 89.1 | 89.7 | 79.1 | 86.9 | 90.3 | 90.7 | 91.6 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 84.9 | 91.9 | 92.2 | 92.9 | 93.6 | 74.0 | 80.3 | 85.5 | 87.6 | 89.8 | 79.3 | 86.3 | 89.0 | 90.2 | 91.8 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 86.3 | 92.7 | 93.2 | 94.2 | 94.1 | 71.3 | 80.3 | 84.2 | 87.1 | 89.4 | 78.7 | 86.6 | 89.0 | 90.6 | 91.9 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 86.9 | 92.4 | 92.9 | 94.6 | 93.0 | 69.5 | 80.6 | 82.7 | 86.1 | 88.3 | 78.2 | 86.6 | 88.0 | 90.4 | 90.7 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 87.7 | 92.5 | 93.8 | 94.1 | 92.8 | 68.8 | 81.1 | 81.5 | 86.0 | 88.2 | 78.1 | 86.8 | 87.7 | 90.0 | 90.6 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 87.7 | 93.1 | 93.4 | 93.9 | 92.3 | 66.7 | 78.5 | 80.5 | 84.5 | 87.0 | 77.0 | 85.8 | 87.0 | 89.3 | 89.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were economically active, by sex and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Men (%) | Women (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 92.0 | 88.9 |
| Lower professional | 93.1 | 87.5 |
| Intermediate | 92.6 | 84.2 |
| Higher working | 92.9 | 80.6 |
| Lower working | 85.5 | 71.6 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were economically active, by ethnicity and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Ethnicity | Lower working (%) | Higher professional (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 69.8 | 86.0 |
| Chinese | 62.9 | 81.9 |
| Indian | 82.6 | 92.7 |
| Pakistani | 66.8 | 84.3 |
| Black African | 83.2 | 93.0 |
| Black Caribbean | 91.7 | 96.7 |
| Mixed | 80.2 | 91.5 |
| White British | 86.2 | 94.3 |
| White other | 87.3 | 94.8 |
| Other | 73.0 | 87.8 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By disability status
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were economically active, by disability status and socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled (%) | Not disabled (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 75.2 | 92.2 |
| Lower professional | 69.3 | 93.0 |
| Intermediate | 65.0 | 91.8 |
| Higher working | 60.8 | 90.7 |
| Lower working | 48.5 | 85.7 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage point difference in the likelihood of being economically active at 25 to 29 years old, compared to the national average (UK, 2018 to 2024 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | Difference compared to average |
|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 1.55 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 0.21 |
| Cheshire | 3.02 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | -0.81 |
| Cumbria | 1.26 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 1.11 |
| Devon | 1.19 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 0.44 |
| East Anglia | 1.18 |
| East Wales | -1.20 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 1.76 |
| Eastern Scotland | -0.37 |
| Essex | 1.12 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 2.34 |
| Greater Manchester | -3.19 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.11 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 0.24 |
| Highlands and Islands | -5.81 |
| Inner London - East | -1.39 |
| Inner London - West | 0.67 |
| Kent | -1.46 |
| Lancashire | 0.96 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 0.16 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.20 |
| Merseyside | -2.66 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 2.76 |
| North Yorkshire | 1.69 |
| Northern Ireland | -3.10 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | -1.37 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 3.64 |
| Outer London - South | -2.25 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 2.30 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 1.59 |
| South Yorkshire | -3.14 |
| Southern Scotland | -0.09 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 1.36 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.92 |
| West Central Scotland | -2.40 |
| West Midlands | 0.90 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | -2.22 |
| West Yorkshire | -1.22 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Time period
- 2024 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2024 (3-year averages, changes over time)
- 2014 to 2024 combined (By sex, ethnicity, and disability status)
- 2018 to 2024 combined (By area)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of 25 to 29 year olds in the UK who were ‘economically active’, by socio-economic background.
Someone is economically active if they are either in work, or available for and actively looking for work.
People can be economically inactive if they are:
- in full-time education
- looking after family
- unable to work due to disability or ill health
Things you need to know
Data is weighted using LFS person weights.
For over time analysis, we use a 3-year moving average. The first data point covers 2014 to 2016, and the final data point covers 2022 to 2024. A formal test was conducted for differences in the socio-economic background gap between 2014 and 2024. This was significant for both men and women.
Data by sex, ethnicity and disability status from 2014 to 2024 is combined to get more accurate estimates. Data by area from 2018 to 2024 is combined.
For data by ethnicity, the estimated percentages are those for men. Percentages are shown only for people from lower working class and higher professional class backgrounds.
For data by disability status, respondents were asked if they had a health condition or illness lasting 12 months or more, and if that condition reduced their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This is consistent with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 49KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025