A fifth of households in Pembrokeshire were not in work last year, new figures suggest.

It comes as the share of households not in work varied considerably across regions in Great Britain.

An employment charity said local health and opportunity inequalities can lead to higher proportions of households not in work, and called for action to "break the cycle of worklessness".

Office for National Statistics figures show there were 6,650 workless households in Pembrokeshire in 2024, which accounted for 21% of all households in the area.

It was up from 4,746 and 15% the previous year.

Across Great Britain, more than three million households were not in work last year, representing just over 14% of all households.

But this proportion varied significantly around the country. While there were just under 11% of workless households in the South East, the figure climbed to 21% in the North East.

The share of households out of work increased in 59% of local authorities last year, while it decreased in the rest of the country.

In Wales, 18% of households were not in work last year.

A workless household is defined by the ONS as containing at least one person aged 16 to 64 years and where no adults are in employment.

These figures exclude households where all adults aged under 24 years and are in full-time education.

A spokesperson for employment charity Shaw Trust said regional health and opportunity inequalities across Great Britain "can compound worklessness in communities".

They explained a large proportion of workless households in a community can have a "wider effect on people’s health and wellbeing", including isolation, poor quality of life and mental health issues.

They said worklessness must be addressed, because "prosperity shouldn’t be a 'postcode lottery'".

"It's clear that there are strong links between work and health, so the services that support both of these things should be linked too," they said.

"Tackling worklessness means health services, employment support, councils and local employers working together with the communities they serve.

"By acting locally and in partnership we can break the cycle of worklessness."

Nationally, workless households' main reason for not being in work was sickness and disability.

This was also the case across Wales where it was the main reason for being out of work in 43% of cases.

Other reasons included early retirement, looking after family or home, and studying.

Tom Marsland, head of policy at disability charity Sense, said: "Sadly, it’s unsurprising that sickness and disability is the main reason for households to be out of work.

"Not all disabled people are able to work, but those who can work, and want to work, face significant barriers to finding employment.

"Unfair recruitment practices, a lack of support from employers and a complete absence of specialist assistive technology in job centres stand in the way, leading to wasted talent, frustration and often poverty."

He called for "urgent action", adding tools like screen readers and braille displays should be installed in job centres across the country.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: "We’re reforming the broken welfare system we inherited so it genuinely supports sick or disabled people in all parts of the country into work, as part of our plans to reach an 80% employment rate.

"This includes investing £3.8 billion for tailored employment support – the biggest support package in more than a generation – and the most significant overhaul of Jobcentres since the early 2000s to end the tick box culture and better help people into good, secure jobs.

"To help areas with the highest levels of economic inactivity we are rolling out a programme to connect offers of work, health and skills support for the people who need it."