EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Indicator 16: Labor Force Participation of Males and Females

Indicator 16 shows labor force participation rates by education level separately for men and women. The continued prevalence in many countries of the tradition of women not working outside the home because of family responsibilities and differing cultural attitudes toward women in the workforce are two factors that influence their labor force participation rates.

For all the countries reported, female labor force participation rates were lower than comparable rates for males in 1992. In the United States, the labor force participation rate for 25- to 64-year-old males was 89 percent, while the participation rate for females was 70 percent, a gap of 19 percentage points. In the G-7 countries, this gap between male and female participation ranged from 18 percentage points in Canada to 38 percentage points in Italy.
The relationship between education and labor force participationthe higher the level of education, the higher the level of participationwas especially marked for women. In the United States, for example, the participation rates were 36 percentage points higher for women who completed university-level higher education than for women with only a lower secondary education* or below. The corresponding difference for men was 19 percentage points. In Italy, the differences were even more pronounced: a 50 percentage point spread for women at opposite ends of the educational spectrum versus 12 percentage points for men.
As a result of the stronger relationship between education and labor force participation for women, the gap between male and female participation tended to decrease as education attainment increased. For example, the sex difference in labor force participation was about 30 percentage points at the lower secondary level, and about 12 percentage points at the university level in the United States.

*For further explanation of education levels, see the sidebar entitled ISCED levels of education

Table 16: Labor force participation rate for individuals 25-64 years of age, by highest level of education attainment, sex, and country: 1992

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Lower secondary Upper Higher education and below secondary (nonuniversity) (university) Total -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- Country Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G-71 Canada 76.2 48.5 89.4 72.0 91.4 79.6 93.8 84.3 86.8 68.9 France 77.4 54.6 90.6 74.9 95.4 84.7 91.2 81.9 85.1 65.7 Germany 80.2 46.1 85.6 67.3 89.4 80.9 93.8 82.4 86.7 64.2 Italy 81.8 36.6 89.6 69.3 (2) (2) 93.9 86.4 84.5 46.2 United Kingdom 79.4 54.2 91.1 71.4 93.2 77.7 94.2 83.6 88.6 66.4 United States 75.2 45.6 89.8 70.7 94.1 81.0 93.8 82.2 88.7 70.0 Other Australia 82.9 53.4 89.8 62.2 90.7 75.7 94.8 82.3 88.0 60.8 Austria 71.6 42.8 83.6 61.1 (2) (2) 93.1 82.0 81.7 54.7 Belgium 73.4 39.7 88.9 67.5 92.5 80.4 91.8 83.4 81.3 54.6 Denmark 78.8 68.3 90.8 86.6 94.1 92.8 94.9 92.3 87.1 79.4 Finland 73.1 66.4 89.5 80.1 89.2 82.4 93.4 89.4 83.6 75.9 Ireland 82.4 29.2 93.4 54.3 94.3 71.4 93.6 79.8 86.5 43.9 Netherlands 77.1 38.4 88.5 63.2 (2) (2) 91.3 77.4 85.0 53.8 New Zealand 82.2 55.5 87.5 65.8 90.9 75.9 95.0 81.0 86.8 63.8 Norway 75.3 55.1 89.8 76.7 91.0 86.6 95.9 89.2 87.9 74.6 Portugal 83.3 48.4 91.1 85.2 91.1 91.0 96.0 94.4 84.7 54.0 Spain 82.9 34.8 92.2 65.9 95.3 76.7 90.5 81.9 85.2 42.9 Sweden 90.8 81.0 94.8 91.2 94.7 93.9 96.1 94.1 93.7 89.1 Switzerland 91.8 61.3 95.5 70.2 96.3 78.8 97.6 82.1 95.4 69.1 Turkey 87.6 31.4 92.1 41.3 (2) (2) 93.6 82.2 88.5 33.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/ No data available for Japan.
2/ Data included in another category.

NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 16 for details on indicator calculation for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

Figure 16a: Labor force participation rate of 25- to 64-year-old males and females, by G-7 country:1,2 1992

Figure 16a
1/No data available for Japan.
2/Countries are sorted in descending order by total labor force participation rate of females.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995

Figure 16b: Labor force participation rate of 25- to 64-year-old males and females, by highest level of education attainment and G-7 country:1,2 1992
1/ No data available for Japan.
2/ Countries are sorted in descending order by labor force participation rate of females having attained a university education.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, International Indicators Project, 1995.

See supplemental notes to Indicator 11.

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