Indicator 20. Employment Rates

In the United States and all other G-8 countries in 2008 (except the Russian Federation, which did not report data), higher employment rates were associated with higher levels of educational attainment.

In the United States and all other G-8 countries in 2008 (except the Russian Federation, which did not report data), higher employment rates were associated with higher levels of educational attainment (figure 20-1). The United Kingdom stood out from the other G-8 countries, with the highest employment rates of adults ages 25 to 64 at three main levels of educational attainment: 66 percent for those whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary education level or below; 82 percent for those whose highest educational attainment was at the upper secondary education level; and 88 percent for those who had completed academic higher education. In all other reporting G-8 countries in 2008, between 52 and 58 percent of adults ages 25 to 64 whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary educa- tion level or below were employed, compared to 73 to 76 percent of adults whose highest educational attainment was at the upper secondary education level,²² and 81 to 86 percent of adults who had completed academic higher education. In the United States, about 56 percent of those whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary education level or below were employed, compared with 73 percent of those whose highest educational attainment was at the upper secondary education level and 84 percent of those who had completed academic higher education.

The gap in the employment rate for 25- to 64-year-olds at the highest and lowest levels of educational attainment (i.e., the difference between the employment rates of adults who had completed academic higher education and those whose highest level of educational attainment was at the lower secondary education level or below) ranged from 23 percentage points in the United Kingdom to 31 percentage points in Germany. In the United States, the gap was 28 percentage points.

Figure 20-2 shows employment rates separately for males and females in 2008. In all reporting G-8 countries, males at each of the three levels of educational attainment had higher employment rates than did females with a comparable amount of education. For males whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary education level or below, the employment rate was highest in the United Kingdom (73 percent), followed by Italy (71 percent); all other reporting G-8 countries had employment rates between 66 and 67 percent. For females, at the level of lower secondary education or below, the employment rate was highest in the United Kingdom (58 percent) and lowest in Italy (34 percent). In the United States, 67 percent of males and 44 percent of females whose highest educational attainment was at the lower secondary education level or below were employed.

For males whose highest educational attainment was at the upper secondary education level, the employment rate was highest in Japan (88 percent), followed by the United Kingdom (86 percent), while the United States had the lowest employment rate (79 percent). For females at the level of upper secondary education, the employment rate was highest in the United Kingdom (77 percent) and lowest in Japan (62 percent). In the United States, 79 percent of males and 67 percent of females whose highest educational attainment was at the upper secondary education level were employed.

In all reporting G-8 countries, at least 86 percent of males who had completed academic higher education were employed. For females who had completed academic higher education, employment rates ranged from 67 percent (Japan) to 86 percent (United Kingdom). In the United States, 89 percent of males and 79 percent of females who had completed academic higher education were employed.

In most of the reporting G-8 countries in 2008, the gap in the employment rate between males and females was smallest among adults who had completed academic higher education and largest among those who had completed only lower secondary education. In all reporting G-8 countries, the male-female gap for lower secondary education or below was approximately two to four times the size of the gap for academic higher education. Italy had the largest male-female gap at the level of lower secondary education or below (37 percentage points). Japan had the largest male-female gap (26 percentage points) at the levels of upper secondary education²³ and academic higher education. In the United States, the male-female gap was 23, 12, and 10 percentage points among adults whose highest educational attainment was lower secondary education or below, upper secondary education, and academic higher education, respectively.

Definitions and Methodology

The employment rate of adults at a particular level of educational attainment is calculated as the number of individuals ages 25 to 64 with the particular level of educational attainment who are employed divided by the number of individuals ages 25 to 64 with the same level of educational attainment.

As shown in the figures, education levels are defined according to the 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED97). For more information on the ISCED97 levels, see appendix A. Individuals whose highest level of education is academic higher education have completed at least a first university degree program, which prepares students for advanced research and highly qualified professions. First university degree programs vary in duration in different countries in different programs of study. In the United States, the first university degree corresponds to a bachelor's degree; it excludes associate's degrees.

Percentage-point differences presented in the text were computed from unrounded numbers; therefore, they may differ from computations made using the rounded whole numbers that appear in the figures.

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²² In this indicator, the category of “upper secondary education” also includes postsecondary nontertiary programs. See figure 20-1 and appendix A for more information on education levels.
²³ In Japan, the data for preprimary, primary, and lower secondary education are included in the data for upper secondary education.