Background to the Research

• In recent years a growing body of research evidence in the United Kingdom suggests that official unemployment statistics do not accurately reflect the true extent of joblessness.
  

Research Approach

• This report provides a summary of recent research into the nature and extent of joblessness in NI carried out by NIERC. The research drew on official government statistics relating to economic activity and inactivity, and on NIERC's own data.
  

Main Findings

• The number of people in NI describing themselves as long-term sick has dramatically increased during the 1980s at a time when health status in NI improved significantly. The results show that there are approximately 15,500 males and 10,500 females in NI who are registered as long-term sick but who could be considered to be part of the hidden labour reserves.
• Many women who are unemployed and actively seeking work do not appear in official unemployment statistics, many are not eligible for benefits and the term 'unemployed' has proved ambiguous for many women. The data shows that around 17,000 unemployed women in NI are not claiming unemployment related benefits, most of these (14,000) are married women.
• In 1996, there were 14,000 male and 10,000 female participants on employment and training schemes in NI. The estimates suggest that around 8,000 male participants and 6,000 female participants on schemes can be considered to be part of the hidden labour reserves.

Conclusion

• The research suggests that there are around 23,500 males and 33,500 females in NI who might be considered part of the hidden labour reserves.
• For males, most of the hidden labour reserve are registered as long-term sick, and the remainder are on government schemes. For females, the largest component is unemployed women who are not eligible to register for unemployment related benefits.