Question 1

How are public sector pay rises decided?

Accepted Answer

For many public sector groups, the government sets pay after recommendations from independent pay review bodies. The Office of Manpower Economics supports eight of them, covering around 2.5 million workers, including NHS staff, doctors and dentists, teachers, the armed forces, police and prison officers. Their reports and the government's response are published on GOV.UK. Other groups, including local government staff and most civil servants, have pay set through negotiation or departmental pay remits, and the devolved governments set some pay separately. To check how public pay is changing, the ONS publishes public and private sector average earnings growth each month; it was 6.3% and 2.9% respectively for regular pay in May to July 2026, though the ONS notes that the timing of pay awards affects the comparison.

Question 2

How many people are out of work due to long-term sickness?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated 2.78 million people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive because of long-term sickness in May to July 2026, in the release of 15 September 2026. The figure is published as series LF69 and in the INAC01 dataset, which gives every reason for inactivity. In total, 9.12 million people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive, an inactivity rate of 20.9%. Inactive means neither in work nor looking for work, so these people are not counted as unemployed. The figures come from the Labour Force Survey, which has had low response rates, so the ONS advises focusing on longer-term trends. Benefit counts, such as people on health-related Universal Credit, measure something different. See the economic inactivity rate .

Question 3

How many people work in the public sector in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated public sector employment at 6.21 million in June 2026, 18.0% of everyone in work, in its release of 15 September 2026. That included 2.07 million in the NHS, 1.97 million in local government and 557,000 in the Civil Service. The figures are headcounts, published quarterly, with breakdowns by sector, industry and region and full-time equivalents in the datasets. Central government employment reached a record 4.08 million, partly because local authority schools becoming academies move staff from local to central government. Such reclassifications can make one part of the public sector appear to grow while another shrinks. Check whether a claim uses headcount or full-time equivalent and which body is included.

Question 4

How many people are self-employed in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS Labour Force Survey estimates 4.53 million self-employed people in the UK in May to July 2026, published 15 September 2026. The figure is series MGRQ in the monthly labour market release, and annual averages show 4.40 million in 2025, compared with 4.96 million in 2019. The self-employed include sole traders, freelancers, partners in businesses and people who run their own limited company only if they describe themselves as self-employed. HMRC's Self Assessment data and the ONS workforce jobs series give other measures. The Labour Force Survey is the only source for self-employment counts, and it has been volatile since 2023 because of low response. Quarter-to-quarter moves are often within the margin of error, so compare longer periods.

Question 5

What is the gender pay gap in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS measures the gender pay gap as the difference between men's and women's median hourly pay, excluding overtime. In April 2025 it was 6.9% for full-time employees, down from 7.1% in 2024, and 12.8% for all employees, according to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings published 23 October 2025. The all-employees figure is larger because more women work part-time, in jobs that pay less per hour on average. Separately, employers with 250 or more staff must publish their own gap each year on the government's gender pay gap reporting service. The ONS states that the gap is not a measure of unequal pay for the same job, which is a different legal question under the Equality Act. Check whether a figure refers to full-time, all employees, mean or median.

Question 6

How many people are on zero-hours contracts in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimates that 1.23 million people were on a zero-hours contract in their main job in April to June 2026, 3.6% of everyone in employment. The figure comes from the Labour Force Survey and is published every three months in the EMP17 dataset, last released on 18 August 2026. EMP17 also breaks the total down by age, sex, region, industry and hours, and shows how many want more hours. Young people, students and part-time workers are more likely to be on these contracts. The count depends on people knowing they are on a zero-hours contract, and the ONS changed its method in 2020, creating a break in the series. The Employment Rights Act 2025 includes new rules on zero-hours work, so check which period a claim covers.

Question 7

What is the sickness absence rate in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated the UK sickness absence rate at 2.0% of working hours in 2025, unchanged from 2024 and 0.1 percentage points above the 2019 level. Its article published 1 May 2026 puts the total at 148.8 million working days lost to sickness or injury, an average of 4.4 days per worker. Rates were highest among women, older workers, people with long-term health conditions, part-time workers and public sector employees. Minor illnesses were the most common reason given, at 30.4% of absences, followed by other conditions, musculoskeletal problems and mental health conditions. These are official statistics in development, based on the Labour Force Survey. NHS England publishes its own monthly NHS staff sickness absence rate, which is measured differently and should not be compared directly.

Question 8

How many workers are paid the minimum wage?

Accepted Answer

The ONS Low and high pay bulletin, published 23 October 2025, found a large cluster of jobs paid within 20 pence of the National Living Wage in April 2025, when it was £12.21 an hour. It estimated 447,000 jobs paid below the legal minimum rates, though it says this cannot be used to measure non-compliance. The same release shows the share of low-paid jobs, defined as below two-thirds of median hourly pay, fell to 2.5%, the lowest since the series began in 1997. The Low Pay Commission publishes estimates of how many workers are covered by each April increase. Survey data cannot always tell whether a worker is entitled to the minimum wage, for example apprentices, so an "underpaid" estimate is not the same as a count of breaches. See current minimum wage rates .

Question 9

How many young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET)?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in April to June 2026, 13.0% of the age group. That was up 30,000 on a year earlier but down 30,000 on the previous quarter, according to the bulletin published 27 August 2026. NEET young people include both the unemployed, who are looking for work, and the economically inactive, such as those who are sick, disabled or caring. The quarterly release splits the total by age and sex, and the Department for Education publishes separate NEET figures for England by local area. Estimates for small groups like this have wide margins of error, so a change of tens of thousands may not be meaningful. Check the period and age range a claim uses.

Question 10

How many redundancies are there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated 114,000 people were made redundant in the three months May to July 2026, a rate of 3.9 per 1,000 employees, in the release of 15 September 2026. The annual average was 124,000 in 2025, up from 102,000 in 2024. These figures come from the Labour Force Survey and count people who say they were made redundant, including voluntary redundancy. The ONS also publishes HR1 data on potential redundancies, from notices employers must send to the Insolvency Service when proposing 20 or more redundancies at one establishment. HR1 notices are proposals, not confirmed job losses, and some never go ahead. Announced job cuts in the news are a third, different measure, so check which a claim relies on.

Question 11

How many job vacancies are there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS estimated 702,000 vacancies in the UK in June to August 2026, down 8,000 on the previous quarter, in the release of 15 September 2026. Outside the pandemic, the ONS says vacancies were last this low in August to October 2014. The figure comes from the ONS Vacancy Survey of businesses and is published monthly in the Vacancies and jobs in the UK bulletin, with breakdowns by industry and business size. Vacancies averaged more than 1.2 million across 2022. Vacancies are reported by employers, not counted from job adverts, so they differ from online job listing figures. The ratio of unemployed people per vacancy is a useful context measure and is in the same release.

Question 12

How many working days are lost to strikes in the UK?

Accepted Answer

The ONS Labour Disputes Inquiry, published monthly, shows about 691,000 working days lost to strikes in the 12 months to July 2026, a provisional figure in the release of 15 September 2026. That compares with 2.51 million in 2022 and 2.66 million in 2023, each the highest calendar-year total since 1989. The LABD dataset goes back to 1931 and gives working days lost, the number of stoppages and workers involved, with breakdowns by region, industry and public or private sector. The ONS treats working days lost as the best guide to the scale of strikes, because the way stoppages are counted has changed. No data were collected for 2020 and 2021, so there is a gap in the series.

Work, pay and employment: your questions answered

How many workers are paid the minimum wage?

How many young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET)?