Highest proportion of working families since 1996
The amount of working families in Britain has risen to record levels in 2014, reaching its highest point since 1996.
87.7 per cent of families were classified as working this year – meaning that at least one person aged over 16 is working in the household.
A dramatic increase in the amount of lone parents in employment has helped contribute to the record levels of employment.
Data from the Office of National Statistics also reveals that the percentage of dependent children living in workless families was also at its lowest level since 1996, at 12.5 per cent.
In 2014, 91.5 per cent of couple families were in work, whilst 71.5 percent of lone parents were employed – up from 67.8 per cent in 2013.
This follows a fall in employment following the financial crisis, where the number of workless families rose to 2.3m. After two years of flat-lining, employment has grown at a faster rate, increasing by 2.2 per cent in three years.
Over half of the 2 million workless families were families where all members had been out of work for three or more years, with retirement being the most common reason.
When their children are aged under five, lone parents are almost twice as likely to be unemployed than if they were in a couple.
Iain Duncan-Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has previously hailed "remarkable" unemployment figures this year, telling the BBC that the government's policies were "giving people that sense of security, their household that sense of worth".