Worklessness

The number of people out of work goes a long way to explaining the productivity gap between the North and South of the country. The North West has more people on Incapacity Benefit (than anywhere else in the country and overall benefit claimant rates are well above the UK average.

The region also contains 49 of the 100 most deprived wards in the country with a quarter of children living in poverty (compared to a fifth nationally). Six local authority areas account for the great majority of worklessness - Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Knowsley, Barrow and Halton, Blackburn with Darwen, and Blackpool also are also experiencing significant problems.

A lot of work is currently underway in the North West to tackle this issue including the Liverpool/Merseyside City Region Employment and skills Strategy which supports the vision of an innovative, internationally competitive and culturally vibrant Liverpool city region.