Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of people (a) with hearing loss and (b) who list their primary medical condition as difficulty in hearing who were (i) in employment, (ii) economically inactive and (iii) unemployed in the last five years for which figures are available.

Table 1 provides an estimate of the proportion of working age people who are in employment, who are unemployed and who are economically inactive who:

a) Report they have a difficulty in hearing (either as their main long term health condition or alongside a different main long term health condition)

b) Report that their difficulty in hearing is their main long term health condition.

Data has been provided for calendar years of 2012 and from 2014 to 2016 in the table below. A change in how the Annual Population Survey captures information on long term health conditions was made in April-June 2013. This change led to a break in the series and therefore data is not available for the entirety of the 2013 calendar year and has therefore not been provided. Data for 2012 is not comparable with data from 2014 onwards.

Please also note the full list of caveats below the table for further methodological information on how this data was calculated and how these figures should be interpreted appropriately.

Table 1 – The proportion of working age people in employment, who are unemployed and who are economically inactive for people who have a difficulty in hearing

Source: Annual Population Survey, January to December, 2012, and 2014 to 2016

Notes:

1. Figures are for the working age population, comprised of people aged 16 to 64.
2. For 2014 to 2016 the table contains estimates of people with a difficulty in hearing who self-reported they have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last for at least 12 months. For 2012 the table contains estimates of people with a difficulty in hearing who self-report that they have health problems or disabilities that they expect will last for more than a year.
3. The break in the series occurred in 2013 as a result of the Office for National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey (APS) adopting a new standardised question on individuals with health problems. The question was changed from: "Do you have any health problems or disabilities that you expect will last for more than a year?" to the standardised version: "Do you have any physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expecting to last 12 months or more?".
4. The Annual Population Survey asks people if they experience any health conditions from a list and respondents are able to select multiple health conditions. If an individual responds with ‘difficulty in hearing’ they will be included in the people with a difficulty in hearing (either as their main long term health condition or alongside a different main long term health condition). Respondents are also asked: “Which of these is your main health problem/disability?” If an individual answers a ‘difficulty in hearing’ then only these individuals are included in the people whose main long term health condition is a difficulty in hearing group.
5. Difficulty in hearing is considered without the use of a hearing aid.
6. Data is subject to sampling variation.
7. Estimates are based on small sample sizes and are therefore subject to a margin of uncertainty. Due to these small sample sizes, some of the differences between years may not be statistically significant. Therefore, these estimates and differences between them should be treated with caution.