Scottish Government

Indicator 18. Home Life

Percentage of children living in workless households

Percentage of children living in workless households

Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter

The relevance of the indicator

Making the most of our greatest resource - our people - means giving every child the best possible start in life. Poverty of income and of opportunity in childhood is more likely to lead to poverty of experience as a young person and adult.

Detailed definition and source details

The indicator is defined as the proportion of dependent children aged under 19 years who are in households where no one is in work. 'Dependent children' are defined as children under 16 years of age, or those aged 16 to 18 who are never-married and in full-time education. Dependency of a child is defined within the context of a family unit. The data are taken from the spring quarter of the Labour Force Survey which is run by the Office for National Statistics.

Trends

Between 1993 and 1996 there was little movement in this indicator. Since 1997, which is the baseline figure for our complementary measurements of children in low-income households, the proportion of children in workless households had fallen to the lowest recorded level of 14% in 2002. However, the figure for 2004 shows that 18% of all dependent children live in workless households. This is only 1 percentage points lower than the figure in 1997.

Further disaggregation

The annual Labour Force Survey sample size was enhanced in Scotland in 2003 which means that data are more reliable, especially at local authority area level. Thus estimates of the percentage of children living in workless households can be produced for most local authority areas in Scotland.

Percentage of children living in workless households, 2003

Source: Annual Scottish Labour Force Survey 2003

* unreliable

Target

There is no target, but reducing the proportion of children living in workless households directly influences the proportion of children living in low-income households thus making an important contribution to meeting a target shared by the Executive and the UK Government, to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

Action

The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling poverty and to the eradication of child poverty within a generation. Working in partnership with the UK Government we have halved the number of children living in absolute poverty since 1996/7 and lifted 60,000 children out of relative poverty over the same period, meeting our Programme for Government pledge.

The Executive believes that the best way out of poverty is through work and has implemented measures to make work pay. The New Deal programmes have been effective in moving people from welfare into work in Scotland. For example, 66,910 young people (18-24), 25,140 adults (25 years plus) and 36,910 lone parents have so far gone into jobs (up to March 2005). The New Deal for Lone Parents is one of the priority areas for action, due to the high levels of workless households with children headed by a lone parent. Since 1998, the proportion of lone parents of working age in employment rose from 42% to 56%.

We are working with the UK Government to maximise the impact of the new tax credits in Scotland, boosting incomes and helping to make work pay. The Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit were introduced in April 2003 and latest figures show 394,000 working households in Scotland, including 374,000 families with children, are benefiting from this additional support. For some parents childcare costs can be a barrier to entering employment. In recognition of this a childcare element is included in the Working Tax Credit, providing assistance to lower income families with up to 70% of approved childcare costs.

Childcare places are being expanded through significantly increased Childcare Strategy funding under the Scottish Budget 2003-2006 with total funding rising from £19.25m in 2003-04 to over £40m in 2005-06. New Opportunities Fund quality childcare programme, launched in 2003, will provide £14.5m to support childcare projects, and is focused predominantly, but not exclusively, on areas of disadvantage. The programme can also support projects meeting the needs of parents in work study or training. In addition, the Executive has made £20m Working for Families funding available from 2004 to help disadvantaged people in deprived areas into work by ensuring that availability of childcare is not a barrier to entering education, training or employment. The Executive also provides a £1000 childcare grant to help lone parents attend higher education courses, to give themselves and their children a better start in life.

But poverty is not just about income - it is also about the crucial early years, and through Sure Start Scotland assistance is being provided to strengthen families and make a difference to children's health, education and well-being, through early intervention. Our commitment to delivering services to children, families and communities is working towards breaking the cycles of economic and social exclusion for our children.