Number of children living in households where no one has ever worked hits 13-year high

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Nearly one in 50 children in the country are growing up in homes with no history of employment whatsoever

A growing number of British children are being raised in homes where employment has never been part of family life.

The scale of the problem has now reached levels not seen in over a decade.

Fresh data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that 252,000 children across the UK are living in households where no adult has ever held a job.

The figure, recorded in the second quarter of this year, marks the highest total since late 2013, when the count stood at 262,000.

The number has climbed by 30,000 since the beginning of 2026 and is 84,000 higher than the same period last year.

It means that nearly one in 50 children in the country, or 1.9 per cent, are growing up in homes with no history of employment whatsoever.

The data covers a period during which Labour's decision to abolish the two-child benefit cap took effect from April.

That policy change, first announced in November last year, allowed all families to claim the child element of Universal Credit regardless of how many children they have.

It effectively reduced the financial disincentive for benefit-dependent parents considering larger families.

When Labour entered government in the second quarter of 2024, the figure stood at 232,000. It then dropped sharply to 168,000 a year later before climbing again.

The ONS also reported that 3.16 million households had nobody currently in work during the same quarter. That is 147,000 more than a year earlier and represents 14.4 per cent of all households, roughly one in seven.

Meanwhile, the total number of households where no member has ever been employed reached 347,000, up by 55,000 on last year.

Helen Whately, the Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary, condemned the government's record. "Under Labour, thousands more children are growing up in homes where nobody works," she said.

"These are the worst figures for over a decade. These parents are living life on benefits and these children will grow up knowing no different."

Ms Whately accused ministers of undermining both the labour market and the welfare system simultaneously. "Labour has killed jobs and made it easier to get benefits," she said.

"The taxpayer is footing the bill but children are also paying the price."

The criticism comes as the government continues to struggle with youth joblessness. Recent figures show that close to one million 16 to 24 year olds are not in education, employment or training.

Overall unemployment is forecast to rise above 5 per cent before the end of this year as the economy fails to gather momentum.

Britain's job market is deteriorating rapidly. The ONS recorded just 707,000 vacancies in the three months to July, the lowest level outside the pandemic since November 2014.

The headline unemployment rate for the three months to June held at 4.9 per cent. However, the single month figure for June jumped to 5.4 per cent, up sharply from 4.6 per cent in May.

Before Labour took office, unemployment stood at 3.8 per cent. Outside the pandemic period, joblessness has not been this high since 2015.

Forecasters, including the Bank of England, expect the headline rate to breach 5 per cent later this year.

Payroll figures tell a similar story. The number of employees on UK payrolls dropped by 13,000 in July alone. Since June 2024, just before the general election, the total has fallen by 183,000.

Young workers have been hit hardest. Unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds stands at 16.2 per cent, affecting 739,000 people.

Many businesses have stopped recruiting in the face of rising labour costs and other operational expenses. Labour's £25billion increase in employer national insurance contributions is widely seen as a key factor, alongside sharp rises in the minimum wage and surging energy bills. Concerns about new workers' rights legislation championed by Angela Rayner have added to employer caution.

The broader picture of benefit dependency is equally troubling. ONS data published last year showed that 53.3 per cent of the population lived in households that received more in state support than they contributed in taxes during 2024. That amounts to 35.8 million people, a record outside the pandemic.

The share of the population reliant on benefits has risen steadily from roughly 40 per cent in the 1980s to around 50 per cent by the 2009 financial crisis. It has barely dipped below that threshold since.