'Shameless' generation grows as seven million now live in households where no one works A fifth of Britons live in households where nobody works, according to official figures.They reveal that almost four million households contain no one who has a job – meaning more than seven million under-65s live without any experience of employment. In some parts of the country almost a quarter of households are workless. In the past year alone a further 148,000 have been added to the grim statistic.Employment Minister Chris Grayling said last night the ‘shocking’ figures were an indictment of the last government’s failure to tackle welfare reform. Since 1998 the number of workless households has soared by 22 per cent, with an extra 700,000 families joining the total. Mr Grayling said: ‘These figures are a further indictment of how the current system is failing families and are a shocking reflection of the scale of worklessness across the UK that the Government has inherited.‘Some areas of Britain are suffering from inter-generational worklessness, which is why we must act now to ensure that children living in workless households are not left behind like their parents have been.’The figures, produced by the Office for National Statistics, show that there are now 3.9million households, containing 5.4million adults, in which no one has a job. They also reveal that 1.9million children live in homes where no one works – fuelling fears that the benefits culture will be passed from one generation to the next. Benefits generation: More and more households are living long-term on benefits, like the characters from the Channel 4 programme ShamelessIn total, 7.3million children and adults aged under 65 live in workless households. Sources at the Department for Work and Pensions last night said the figures underlined the need to drive through reforms of the benefits system to make work pay and to get people back into employment.All 2.6million people on incapacity benefit are to undergo fresh medical tests to see if they are fit to work, with trials due to begin in Aberdeen and Burnley next month.Those assessed as being able to work would immediately be moved on to Jobseekers’ Allowance. This would cut their benefits by more than £25 a week and requiring them to seek work immediately.Ministers are also expected to introduce a ‘Work Programme’ next year, which will force the jobless to make daily efforts to find work or risk losing their benefits. Private companies will be offered incentives to help get benefits claimants back into work.The ONS figures reveal huge variations in the number of workless households around the country.THE WORKLESS HOUSEHOLDSRegion Number %UK 3.9 million 19.2
North East 218,000 24.3
North West 483,000 21.0
Yorkshire and Humber 363,000 20.5
East Midlands 282,000 19.2
West Midlands 347,000 19.7
East of England 292,000 15.7
London 495,000 19.1
South East 385,000 14.2
South West 286,000 17.1
Wales 226,000 22.9
Scotland 411,000 22.6 In the North-East almost a quarter of all households (24.3 per cent) contain no one in work. It is followed by Wales (22.9 per cent), Scotland (22.6 per cent) and the North-West (21 per cent). The lowest percentage is in the South-East, where only one in seven households (14.2 per cent) is workless.The next best figures are in the East of England, at 15.7 per cent of households.The figures also show that single-parent households are most likely to have no one in work, with almost 40 per cent of single parents out of work.A spokesman for youth charity the Prince’s Trust said last night: ‘The UK has the highest number of children growing up in workless families in the whole of the EU.‘These vulnerable young people are significantly more likely to struggle to find work themselves, with many expecting to join their parents in the dole queue.‘We know that the downward spiral of unemployment can lead to crime, homelessness, or worse.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1310220/Seven-million-live-households-works.html
