The economic support ratio shows the numerical relationship between the number of people aged 16 and over in employment compared to every other person in the UK.

In 1971, the ratio stood at 0.78. Although there were dips caused by the recessions of the early 1980s and 1990s due to decreases in the number of people in employment and increases in the numbers who were unemployed, by 2008 it had risen to 0.93. It currently stands at around 0.88 because of the job losses generated so far by the recession.

(January 2010)