Half of Black Country households have all occupants in work

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows the region is below regional and national levels.

On average 48 per cent of Black Country house holds have all their occupants in work, according to data from 2018.

The figure for the West Midlands that year was 55 per cent, while the UK average was 58 per cent. However new data shows the UK-wide figure rose to 60 per cent for 2019.

A breakdown of the figures for the Black Country showed Wolverhampton (43 per cent) was the lowest with 32,900 households classed as working.

Next was Sandwell (47 per cent) with 49,100 households working and Dudley (50 per cent) with 46,800 households working.

Walsall (52 per cent) topped the ranks percentage-wise with 44,000 households in work.

The figures relate to households which have working age occupants 16 or over.

In the three months leading up to September 2019 the UK had 60 per cent of all occupants in work.

This represented a two-per-cent rise and was welcomed by employment experts.

Matt Weston, managing director of recruiters Robert Half, said: "The growing number of households with at least one adult in employment is a clear mark of the continued resilience of the UK labour market.

"As the demand for skilled talent continues to rise above supply, businesses are prioritising the need to offer greater flexibility and work-life balance to attract the right skills.

"This includes exploring flexible schedules, remote working, job sharing and part-time roles."

Meanwhile, the number of households in which no adults were in work fell to a record low across the country in the three months to September, at 2.8 million, or 13.5 per cent of UK homes.

A further 5.6 million (26.9 per cent) had a mix of at least one working and one workless adult.

Laura Gardiner, research director at the Resolution Foundation, welcomed the figures.

She said: "This hasn't happened by chance – it's the result of concerted policy action from successive governments, and shows that properly targeted policies can make a difference.

"However, while worklessness is no longer the poverty scourge it once was, an increasing number of children in working households are living in poverty."

Tackling this "new poverty" challenge should be the Government's priority, she added.