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On Tuesday we @ONS published the latest statistics on employment. People have questioned whether the definition of employed (working more than 1 hour) distorts the picture. The quick answer is no. Thread... (1/7)
Only a small proportion (1.5% of workers) record very short hours (below 6hrs/wk). This hasn’t changed much over the last 10 years, and is lower than around 25 years ago. Only around 8% work 15hrs/wk or fewer, down from around 10% 25 years ago. (2/7)
Low hours are a modest share of employment, and have not been rising. So the recent growth in the employment rate is not caused by lots of people on low numbers of hours a week. (3/7)
You can read more about definitions of employment, unemployment and 'economic inactivity' here: blog.ons.gov.uk/2018/11/12/wor… (4/7)
We have also been asked about ‘unpaid family workers’, who count as employed. This includes people working in the family business e.g. family members helping in a shop. It doesn’t cover people caring for their grandchildren or the usual activities of running a home. (5/7)
These unpaid family workers are also a tiny fraction of workers – around 0.3% of the working population. This has been broadly stable for many years. (6/7)
So while these employment definitions sometimes surprise people, there is no evidence they distorts our labour market statistics. (7/7)
