Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Reading the Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 People
- 2 Government and Politics
- 3 Economy
- 4 Work and the Labour Force
- 5 Government Taxes and Spending
- 6 Health
- 7 Education
- 8 Inequality and Social Welfare
- 9 International Relations
- 10 Environment
- 11 Science and Technology
- 12 Telecommunications and Computing
- 13 Media
- 14 Family
- 15 Gender
- 16 Lifestyles and Consumption
- 17 Crime and Social Problems
- 18 Religion, Values and Attitudes
- Sources and References
- List of Tables
4 - Work and the Labour Force
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Reading the Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 People
- 2 Government and Politics
- 3 Economy
- 4 Work and the Labour Force
- 5 Government Taxes and Spending
- 6 Health
- 7 Education
- 8 Inequality and Social Welfare
- 9 International Relations
- 10 Environment
- 11 Science and Technology
- 12 Telecommunications and Computing
- 13 Media
- 14 Family
- 15 Gender
- 16 Lifestyles and Consumption
- 17 Crime and Social Problems
- 18 Religion, Values and Attitudes
- Sources and References
- List of Tables
Summary
Labour force and population ageing
The labour force ‘participation rate’ in Table 4.1 is the proportion of the total population that chooses to take part in the labour force. The labour force, however, includes not only those people with jobs (the workforce) but also those actively seeking work (the unemployed). The participation rate tends to move in line with the business cycle. It falls during recessions as jobseekers become discouraged and abandon the active search for jobs, thus ceasing to meet the tight definition of ‘unemployed’. Then, as the cycle turns up, formerly discouraged jobseekers resume the search for work, thus returning to participation in the labour force. However, the decade-long average rates shown in Table 4.1 should iron out most of the cyclical effect, exposing the longer-term trend.
The participation rate has been increasing steadily since the 1960s almost universally throughout the developed world. The latest rates are the historical peak for almost all the selected countries. The countries show contrasting trends. Several near the top began with high participation rates and have been stable or increased only slightly. The five countries at the bottom (the most strongly Roman Catholic ones – see Table 18.1) began with a relatively low participation rate and have barely changed. Then there is a group of countries which increased their participation rates substantially: Canada, the United States, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- How Australia Compares , pp. 67 - 88Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004