Decomposing the change in labour force indicators over time

In this paper we study changes in the size and the composition of the labour force in five OECD countries from 1983 through 2000. We apply a recent decomposition method to quantify the components of the change over time in the crude labour force rate and the mean age of the labour force. Our results show that the change in the crude labour force rate was dominated by the change in age-specific labour force participation rates. For the mean age of the labour force we find that for males the change in the age composition of the population predominately explains the overall change while the results for females are less clear-cut.decomposition method, labor force, labor force indicators, population aging

Symposium on Labour Force Participation in Canada in the 1990s: An Introduction and Overview

A major development in the Canadian labour market in the 1990s has been the decline in labour force participation. This issue of Canadian Business Economics consists of a symposium of articles that explore this issue. The idea for this symposium came out of a December 1997 workshop on labour force participation organized by the Canadian Employment Research Forum. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards and Human Resources Development Canada then organized two sessions on labour force participation at the annual meeting of the Canadian Economics Association in May 1998 where these papers were first presented. The papers were then refereed and revised for publication. This introduction sets the context for the symposium that follows by presenting basic data on labour force participation rate trends and summarizing and synthesizing the key findings of the five articles.Labour Force Participation, Labor Force Participation, Participation Rate, Labour Force Participation Rate, Labor Force Participation Rate, Canada, Living Standards, Standard of Living, Output Gap, Potential Employment, Potential Output, Potential Growth

Labor force participation among Indian elderly: does health matter?

The paper analyzes the effect of health status on labour force participation for aged Indians. The potential endogeneity in health and labour force participation has been taken care of by using full information maximum likelihood (FIML) and estimation results are compared with alternative two-stage methods. Results show that health has a significant and positive effect on labour force participation of the aged. In order to keep enough supply of elderly in the labour market, sufficient health care is necessary and hence more investment in this sector is imperative.self-reported health status; labour force participation; elderly; endogeneity; exogeneity; simultaneous equation model

Childcare cost and Spanish mother’s labour force participation

In Spain, female labour force participation is among the lowest in Europe. This paper analyzes the extent to which female labour force participation is affected by the cost of formal childcare. Both decisions, labour force participation and formal childcare use, are jointly considered by means of a bi-variate probit model that accounts for the sample selection. Based on data from the Spanish Time Use Survey, the study indicates that Spanish mothers’ labour force participation is very elastic to changes in childcare costs.Childcare costs, female labour participation

Aging and Economic Growth: Issues Relevant to Singapore

The paper studies the effects of the changing age and education composition of the labour force on productivity growth in Singapore. The quality change of workers from aging and education is measured through a quality index. Quality change through education is the key driving force for the productive performance of the labour force. On the other hand, the growth in the labour quality of workers by age, and hence, its contribution to labour productivity growth is falling. To moderate the impact of the aging labour force on productivity growth, greater efforts to raise the educational profile of the labour force and to re-train older workers are required.

Exploring Older Male Worker Labour Force Participation Across OECD Countries in the Context of Ageing Populations: A Reserve Army of Labour?

The governments of many developed economies are confronting a number of policy issues associated with ageing populations. For example, pension reforms, increasing the labour force participation of older workers and increasing the standard retirement age are various policy reforms suggested by the OECD to cope with the fiscal strain associated with ageing populations. However, many of the same governments now embracing these reforms had until recent times allowed the early exit of older workers from the labour force by various means in periods of excess labour supply, leading to the allegation that these governments had treated older workers as a ‘reserve army of labour’. In this paper panel models for the labour force participation of males aged 55-59 and 60-64 years in 12 OECD countries are estimated as a function of social security and labour market variables covering the time period 1967 to 2007. In contrast to previous OECD modelling, allowances are made for both country specific intercept and slope terms in various specifications, thereby allowing the incorporation of unique aspects of each country’s social security system or labour market. In addition, both long run models and also short run models incorporating error correction terms are estimated. The findings suggest that the ‘one size fits all’ policy advocated by the OECD is inadequate to address country specific factors affecting older worker labour force participation. The recent pension reforms are now out of character with the reserve army of labour explanation and results also imply that governments in many OECD countries will struggle to increase older male labour force participation through pension policy reform alone, without addressing the important role of the aggregate labour market.Labour force participation, older workers, ageing society, reserve army of labour

Schooling, Labour Force Quality and the Growth of Nations: Comment

Hanushek and Kimko (2000) concluded that, for a sample of nearly 80 countries, the quality of the labour force is significantly positively related to economic growth rates for the period 1960-1990 and is more important that mean years of schooling. In this paper, we further test the robustness of their result by firstly including in the original model a proxy for labour force health, and secondly by re-estimating the model for a later sample period. We conclude that the findings of Hanushek and Kimko are not robust to these changes. In particular, their measure of labour force quality is significantly but negatively related to economic growth rates for the later sample period.Labour force quality, labour force health, growth

Working or stay-at-home mum? The influence of family benefits and religiosity

It is a well-established fact that mothers' labour force participation reacts differently todifferent types of family benefits. It is also already well-known that cultural and religiousfactors have an impact on their labour force participation. But does the labour forcereaction to family benefits differ among more religious mothers? In this paper, I analysehow both factors – benefits and religiosity – interact when it comes to the decision concerninglabour force participation. Firstly, I present a theoretical model which predicts thatthis difference exists. Secondly, I test this prediction in a sample of pooled cross-sectiondata from 10 OECD countries using different measures to assess the extent of religiosity.There is evidence that religious mothers react less than non-religious mothers toincreases in family benefits. I also find important differences among various religiousaffiliations. These results imply that trends in religiosity should be considered whendesigning labour market policies.Female labour force participation, public benefits, culture, family attitudes

The Impact of Lifecycle Events on Women’s Labour Force Transition: a Panel Analysis

This panel study explores the impact of different lifecycle events on women's labour force transitions. Whether the factors that determine entry into the labour force differ from the factors that determine withdrawal from the labour force is explicitly investigated. The results demonstrate that labour force transitions – entry and withdrawal – occur more frequently among young women. The event of childbirth is strongly associated with labour force withdrawal, while marital separation and reductions in family earnings are strongly associated with labour force entry. Moreover, labour force transition probabilities are more sensitive to income-reducing events than to income-supplementing events.Labour Force Transitions; Women; Labour Force Participation; Longitudinal Data

Labour stats 101: labour force

This guide provides a brief overview of the labour force, an introduction to some of the key concepts and terminology, and lists some relevant data sources. This is one in a series of Quick Guides related to labour statistics, designed to provide a basic understanding of Australian labour market data. Other guides include employment, unemployment and youth unemployment