Rising โขNumbers โคof Economically Inactive Young Adults Linked to โขJob Searchโข Difficulties
Recent dataโ indicates a concerning trend inโฃ the economically inactive population,particularlyโ among young adults. In august of this โyear, 2.641โ million people reported being ‘at rest’ – neither employed nor โactively seeking workโ – marking an all-time high adn a 73,000โข personโ increase year-over-year. This figure falls within aโ broader economically inactive โpopulation โขof 16.22 โขmillion, up 9,000 from theโ previous August, though the overall proportion of the population aged 15 or older in this category has actually decreased slightly to 35.4%, the lowest levelโฃ asโ 1999.
A โmeaningful factor driving this inactivity, โespeciallyโ forโ those โขaged 15 to โ29, โขis difficulty finding suitable employment. A considerable 34.1%โ of young people cited “difficulty findingโข the job I wanted” as theโฃ reason for not working, representing a 3.3 percentage point increaseโค from the previous year and the highest percentage โฃrecorded as August 2020, coinciding with โขthe peakโค of theโ coronavirusโ outbreak. This โalignsโฃ with a 17-month downward โtrend in โthe youth employment rate as of last September.
While the most common reason for being ‘at rest’ remains “not feeling well” (34.9%), theโ pronounced increase in job-search related inactivity among youngโ adults is noteworthy.
Looking at desiredโ work arrangements, 67% of those economically inactive individuals expressed a preferenceโฃ for full-time employment, 26.9% forโค part-time, and 5.9% for self-employment. โฃInterestingly, the desire for part-time work has โฃrisen to itsโ highest level as 2016, with 37.3% citing health reasons and 20.5% balancing โคwork with other commitments. Though,โค a growing proportion – 13.2%, an all-timeโข high – are seeking part-time work specifically as they cannot secure full-time positions.
Further indicating โa lack of optimism, only 20.4% of the economically inactive populationโฃ intend to โseek employmentโฃ or startโ a business โขwithin the next year, the lowest figure sinceโฃ 2018.
The โdata also reveals shifts in the non-wage worker sector (typically โself-employed). The total number of non-wage workers decreased to 6.554 million, the lowest as 2007,โค representing 22.6%โ of the total employed population – also a record โlow. Thisโข decline is largely attributedโข to an aging workforce,โ with those aged 60 or older now comprising over 41.1% โฃof non-wage workers, a first as dataโ collection โคbegan. Specifically, individuals aged โข70 or โolder account โfor a significant portion of this โincrease, rising by 52,000.