By . Emily Davies . PUBLISHED: . 07:10 EST, 10 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:54 EST, 11 February 2013 . Nearly four million British adults have never had any form of paid work in their lives - more people than the population of Wales. Figures show the scale of the problem facing British welfare system, which has been criticised for allowing jobless people to be better off than those in work. More than a quarter of those who have never earned a living are aged between 25 to 64, and 205,000 over 65s had never worked before becoming pensioners. The number of British people who have never worked in their lives was 3.9 million . But the worst affected group are young people, with more than a third aged between 18 and 24 having never done paid work. More than one million 16 and 17-year-olds have left education and not found employment, or are still studying but have never had a Saturday job. The Office for National Statistics figures, which include disabled people who cannot work, show London is the city worst affected by lifelong joblessness, with 737,000 in the capital having never worked. Birmingham has the next highest number of adults who have never seen a payday, at 144,000. But most of the top ten workless locations are in the North of the country. Glasgow and Edinburgh have a combined total of 96,000 people who have never been wage-earners, while Leeds has 72,000. Manchester has 71,000 who have never been in work and Liverpool has 52,000. Bradford is next with 50,000, then Sheffield on 46,000, Tower Hamlets has 42,000 and Cardiff 41,000. TaxPayers’ Alliance boss Matthew Sinclair told The Sun: 'These are truly shocking figures which underline the importance of reforming the welfare system in order to make work pay once and for all. 'Leaving millions to languish on benefits for life is not fair on those individuals or taxpayers. 'But the Government also has a duty to create an environment in which it is easier for businesses to take people on, which means less red tape and lower taxes.' Earlier this year it was revealed that Britain had one of the worst workless rates in Europe, with joblessness particularly affecting single mothers in the UK.
Ten British cities with worst lifelong joblessness mostly in the north .
London is worst affected location and young people are worst-hit group .
By . Emily Davies . PUBLISHED: . 07:10 EST, 10 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:54 EST, 11 February 2013 . Nearly four million British adults have never had any form of paid work in their lives - more people than the population of Wales. Figures show the scale of the problem facing British welfare system, which has been criticised for allowing jobless people to be better off than those in work. More than a quarter of those who have never earned a living are aged between 25 to 64, and 205,000 over 65s had never worked before becoming pensioners. The number of British people who have never worked in their lives was 3.9 million . But the worst affected group are young people, with more than a third aged between 18 and 24 having never done paid work. More than one million 16 and 17-year-olds have left education and not found employment, or are still studying but have never had a Saturday job. The Office for National Statistics figures, which include disabled people who cannot work, show London is the city worst affected by lifelong joblessness, with 737,000 in the capital having never worked. Birmingham has the next highest number of adults who have never seen a payday, at 144,000. But most of the top ten workless locations are in the North of the country. Glasgow and Edinburgh have a combined total of 96,000 people who have never been wage-earners, while Leeds has 72,000. Manchester has 71,000 who have never been in work and Liverpool has 52,000. Bradford is next with 50,000, then Sheffield on 46,000, Tower Hamlets has 42,000 and Cardiff 41,000. TaxPayers’ Alliance boss Matthew Sinclair told The Sun: 'These are truly shocking figures which underline the importance of reforming the welfare system in order to make work pay once and for all. 'Leaving millions to languish on benefits for life is not fair on those individuals or taxpayers. 'But the Government also has a duty to create an environment in which it is easier for businesses to take people on, which means less red tape and lower taxes.' Earlier this year it was revealed that Britain had one of the worst workless rates in Europe, with joblessness particularly affecting single mothers in the UK.
affected group are young people, with more than a who cannot work, show London is the city worst affected by lifelong joblessness, with 737,000 in