Labor force participation rates (male to female) in

Australia
- Australia is located in the continent Oceania/Australia. Its the
6th largest nation in the world in total are of 7,741,220 square
kilometers. The population of Australia is 22,015,576. The
currency of Australia is the Australian Dollar (AUD). As well,
the people of Australia are referred to as Australians.

Labor force: we will be comparing the rates of employment

between men and women from 2002 till 2012. The labor force
consists of people who are unemployed or employed, in other
words (actively looking for work and available). The labor force
participation rate for any group within the population is the
labor force component of that group, expressed as a
percentage of the total population in that group (the sum of
the labor force component and those people neither working
nor looking for work).

The labor force participation rates for both men and women
have increases in the past few years , but theres a difference
in that increase , for men it only increases up to 1 percent and
maybe a bit higher . For women it was up to 4 percent. it was
higher for men and women across all age groups .

A certain age group was chosen to conduct this study, ages

between 20-74. There are a few reasons for such a choice such
as; Between the ages of 15-19 , they are more likely to be
working part-time or studying , so they wont be available to
work full time . in the last decade life mortality rates have
increased for Australians , the ones above 64 years are
expected to live longer and are still a participants in the labor
force. Since 2002-03 the labor force participation rate for men
aged 65 -74 years has increased from 15% to 26%, while for
women it has more than doubled from 6% to 13%.

The labor force participation rate for men has been higher
throughout history than women. but certain cultural and
economic factors have changed , and an increase of female
participation have occurred .
There are certain factors that can have an influence on
womens decision to go after a job, and what kind of a job. For
example, age, educational qualifications, family commitment,
and availability of child care services.

LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE (a), 20-74 years

2002- 2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007- 2008- 2009- 2010- 20

03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 11-
12

% % % % % % % % % %

Males 77.9 77.8 78.2 78.8 79.2 79.4 79.5 79.3 79.7 79.
2
Females 61.1 60.9 61.8 63.0 63.8 64.6 65.1

This table shows the increase of both male and female growth
in the labor participation rate aging between 20-74 and from
2002 till 2012 .

Government also has a role to play in enabling women to go

after careers in more technical industries. If child care was
affordable, this would open more possibilities for women with
pre-school children to return to full-time work. Then, when
choosing qualifications, women could at least see a way to be
involved in a highly paid sector with having a family.
Affordable child care would boost participation across
All industries. The higher the prices of child care services, the
lower paid working hours for women.

Conclusion: the role of women is indeed increasing in the labor

market , but not as expected unfortunately and certain
measurements should be made to improve the working
environment for women which will definitely benefit the
economy in the future .
References : http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/1370.0?
opendocument#from-banner=LN

https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-
WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf

https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/EY-(2013)-
Untapped-opportunity-The-role-of-women-in-unlocking-
Australias-productivity-potential.pdf

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4125.0main+
features1110Jan%202013