Members’ pay and expenses: Index of Library briefings
Links to Library Briefings on Members’ pay and expenses since 2001

This note explains the meaning of different concepts within labour market statistics and identifies the key measures and sources to use.
Understanding statistics on employment, unemployment and earnings (425 KB , PDF)
A lot of information is available on the state of the UK labour market – numbers and rates of people employed and unemployed, the types of employment undertaken, average earnings, and so on. This note explains the meaning of different concepts and identifies the key measures and sources to use. It also addresses some common misunderstandings and areas where the statistics need to be interpreted with particular care.
The note has been updated in December 2019 to provide information on two changes that the House of Commons Library has made to how it reports information on the number of people claiming unemployment benefits:
Understanding statistics on employment, unemployment and earnings (425 KB , PDF)
Links to Library Briefings on Members’ pay and expenses since 2001
Household debt: Data on the latest household debt statistics, including net lending, mortgage interest rates and insolvencies.
The Supporting Families (previously Troubled Families) Programme aims to support families with multiple disadvantages who can experience poor life outcomes.