Insee Première · October 2023 · n° 1970

Who are the inactive people aged 30 to 54, whose numbers slightly increased over the past 10 years ?

In 2022, 73.6% of people aged 15 to 64 were in the labour force according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition. This share has stood at its highest since INSEE started measuring it (1975) and 1.6 points above its 2014 level. Since then, the rise has maily been due to young and older people, while the activity rate for people aged 30 to 54 fell back slightly (-0.5 points). This slight downturn was mainly the result of increases in inactivity due to sickness or invalidity, and education and training. It concerned both men and women.

Compared to all inactive people of median age (30 to 54), those who were inactive due to sickness or invalidity were more likely to have few qualifications and to have been out of work for a long time. Two-thirds of them had administrative recognition of disability. Those who were inactive due to family reasons were mainly women.

Only 7% of median aged inactive people in a given quarter were employed the following quarter, but this share was higher among inactive people due to temporary reasons (23%). Finally, in 2019, the monetary poverty rate for median aged inactive people stood at 41% while it stood at 8% for those in employment.