Unemployment
Published:
11 September 2024
see all updates
Data on the percentage of 25 to 29 year olds who were unemployed, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2022, 3% of all 25 to 29 year olds in the UK were unemployed. Those from lower working class backgrounds had the highest unemployment rate (6%).
There were no significant differences in unemployment rates between young men and women from the same socio-economic backgrounds.
Young people from Pakistani, Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Mixed and ‘Other’ ethnic groups were significantly more likely to be unemployed than White British young people from the same socio-economic background.
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, 2022)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 3.1 |
| Higher working | 3.9 |
| Intermediate | 3.0 |
| Lower professional | 2.2 |
| Lower working | 6.3 |
| All backgrounds | 3.5 |
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 2022 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 | -0.2 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | -0.4 |
| Cheshire | -0.8 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | -0.3 |
| Cumbria | -0.2 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 0.0 |
| Devon | -0.7 |
| Dorset and Somerset | -0.5 |
| East Anglia | -0.7 |
| East Wales | -1.1 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | -0.9 |
| Eastern Scotland | 0.8 |
| Essex | -0.9 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | -0.8 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.5 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | -0.7 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 0.0 |
| Highlands and Islands | -0.7 |
| Inner London - East | 0.6 |
| Inner London - West | 0.8 |
| Kent | -0.4 |
| Lancashire | 1.9 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | -0.6 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.7 |
| Merseyside | 0.7 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 1.5 |
| North Yorkshire | -0.5 |
| Northern Ireland | -0.5 |
| Northumberland and Tyne and Wear | 2.4 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 0.2 |
| Outer London - South | 1.4 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 1.7 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | -0.3 |
| South Yorkshire | -0.1 |
| Southern Scotland | -0.9 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | -0.9 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.5 |
| West Central Scotland | -0.5 |
| West Midlands | 0.4 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | -0.4 |
| West Yorkshire | -0.3 |
Download
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 2022 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Men (%) | Women (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 4.0 | 3.4 |
| Lower professional | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| Intermediate | 4.3 | 5.3 |
| Higher working | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| Lower working | 7.5 | 7.8 |
Download
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 2022 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Ethnicity | Lower working (%) | Higher professional (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 8.2 | 4.0 |
| Chinese | 16.5 | 8.6 |
| Indian | 10.7 | 5.4 |
| Pakistani | 16.0 | 8.3 |
| Black African | 17.0 | 8.8 |
| Black Caribbean | 16.0 | 8.3 |
| Mixed | 12.0 | 6.1 |
| White British | 6.7 | 3.3 |
| White other | 6.9 | 3.4 |
| Other | 12.1 | 6.1 |
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 2022 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled (%) | Not disabled (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 8.1 | 3.2 |
| Lower professional | 8.4 | 3.1 |
| Intermediate | 10.3 | 4.0 |
| Higher working | 12.2 | 3.8 |
| Lower working | 18.2 | 5.8 |
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
- 2022 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2022 combined (By sex, ethnicity, and disability status)
- 2018 to 2022 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 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 2024 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 22KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Socio-economic background
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Value
- Sample size
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Standard error
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
11 September 2024