Unemployment
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were unemployed, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2024, 25 to 29 year olds from lower working class backgrounds had the highest unemployment rate (6%) out of all socio-economic backgrounds. Those from higher professional backgrounds had the lowest rate (2%).
In the 3 years to 2024, 3.8% of 25 to 29 year olds were unemployed – down from 5.8% in the 3 years to 2016. Average unemployment rates went up slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 3 years to 2024, 25 to 29 year olds from lower working class backgrounds were twice as likely to be unemployed as those from higher professional backgrounds.
In 2014 to 2024 combined:
- there were no differences above one percentage point in unemployment rates between young men and women from the same socio-economic backgrounds
- young people from White British and White Other ethnic backgrounds were the least likely to be unemployed
- young people with a disability were significantly more likely to be unemployed than young people without a disability from the same socio-economic background
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Percentage of people aged 25 to 29 years who were unemployed, by socio-economic background (UK, 2024)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 2.2 |
| Lower professional | 4.4 |
| Intermediate | 5.0 |
| Higher working | 5.6 |
| Lower working | 6.1 |
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Changes over time
Visualisation
Percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were unemployed by socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | Lower working (%) | Higher working (%) | Intermediate (%) | Lower professional (%) | Higher professional (%) | Total (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | 5.7 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 3.8 |
| 2021 to 2023 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.8 |
| 2020 to 2022 | 7.4 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.7 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 6.8 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.6 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 7.2 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 7.0 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 4.6 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 7.8 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 3.6 | 5.2 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 9.1 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 5.8 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Percentage of people aged 25 to 29 years who were unemployed, by socio-economic background and sex (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Men (%) | Women (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 3.9 | 3.0 |
| Lower professional | 3.8 | 3.8 |
| Intermediate | 4.1 | 5.0 |
| Higher working | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| Lower working | 7.5 | 7.0 |
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For the full download file, see Download the data.
By ethnicity
Visualisation
Percentage of people aged 25 to 29 years who were unemployed, by socio-economic background and ethnicity (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Ethnicity | Lower working (%) | Higher professional (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 8.6 | 4.2 |
| Chinese | 12.8 | 6.5 |
| Indian | 9.7 | 4.8 |
| Pakistani | 15.3 | 7.8 |
| Black African | 17.7 | 9.2 |
| Black Caribbean | 14.6 | 7.5 |
| Mixed | 12.0 | 6.0 |
| White British | 6.5 | 3.2 |
| White other | 7.2 | 3.5 |
| Other | 10.9 | 5.5 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By disability status
Visualisation
Percentage of people aged 25 to 29 years who were unemployed, by socio-economic background and disability status (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled (%) | Not disabled (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 9.2 | 3.0 |
| Lower professional | 10.5 | 3.2 |
| Intermediate | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Higher working | 16.4 | 3.6 |
| Lower working | 17.2 | 5.9 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Percentage point difference in the likelihood of being unemployed at 25 to 29 years old, by region 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 | -0.5 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | -0.2 |
| Cheshire | -0.9 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | -0.6 |
| Cumbria | -0.2 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | -0.3 |
| Devon | -0.7 |
| Dorset and Somerset | -0.8 |
| East Anglia | -0.4 |
| East Wales | -1.5 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | -1.0 |
| Eastern Scotland | 0.9 |
| Essex | -0.0 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | -0.4 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.7 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | -0.9 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | -0.4 |
| Highlands and Islands | -1.2 |
| Inner London - East | 1.1 |
| Inner London - West | 1.6 |
| Kent | -1.1 |
| Lancashire | 1.9 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | -0.2 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.4 |
| Merseyside | 0.8 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 1.2 |
| North Yorkshire | -0.6 |
| Northern Ireland | -0.6 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 2.7 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 1.5 |
| Outer London - South | 2.4 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 1.7 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | -1.1 |
| South Yorkshire | -0.4 |
| Southern Scotland | -0.6 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | -0.7 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.3 |
| West Central Scotland | -1.1 |
| West Midlands | 0.1 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | -0.1 |
| West Yorkshire | -0.6 |
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 unemployed, by socio-economic background.
Things you need to know
Unemployed people are defined as not in work but available for and looking for work. Economically inactive people (those not in work or looking for work) are not included in the data.
Sample sizes for people who are unemployed are relatively small. Reports such as Has labour market data become less reliable? (House of Commons, 2023) have looked at how representative the LFS sample is for analysing labour market outcomes.
The data used is weighted using LFS person weights.
For changes over time, 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 to test for differences between those from a higher professional socio-economic background and other socio-economic backgrounds. This was significant for all groups other than the lower professional group.
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 those with lower working-class and higher professional-class backgrounds.
The LFS uses the occupation of the main earner in the household when the respondent was aged 14 years for their socio-economic background.
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, 31KB)
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