What explains the growth in ‘never-worked’ households?

This research investigates what drove the substantial increase in 'never-worked' households between 1996-2005.

The number of homes where no one has ever worked has doubled in little more than a decade. But is this a sign of growing ‘welfare dependency’ or the result of other factors? This report looks at the characteristics of ‘never-worked’ households and considers the possible reasons for the increase.

It finds that most never-worked household are lone parent households and younger single people; there is little or no evidence of a problem of ‘intergenerational worklessness’.