The Participation Rate of Gender, Work and the Family - Coursework Example

A. Explanation of the Participation Rate The participation rate is defined as “the percentage of working-age population reporting themselves as either working or actively looking for work” (Aaronson et al., 2006, p. 1). There is a difference between the participation rate, the employment rate, the unemployment rate and the percentage of individuals who are not in the labor force. The employment rate consists of individuals who worked for pay or profit during the survey week. This includes all individuals who have worked part-time or had temporary jobs. It also includes all full-time, year-round employees. Individuals are still considered to be employed, even if they did not work during the survey week, if they were not working because they were ill, on vacation, experiencing child-care issues, taking care of a family member, on maternity leave, involved in an industrial dispute or prevented from working due to inclement weather. Also included in the employment rate are individuals who have a job but not at work, in that they are currently off work or furloughed, yet they have a job to which they will return. Also included in the employment rate are “unpaid family workers.” These are individuals who are working, unpaid, in a family business for at least 15 hours per week (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Individuals are considered to be unemployed, for the purposes of the unemployment rate, if the individual is actively looking for work, but is unemployed. Workers who are out of a job, due to a temporary layoff, but expected to be recalled, are considered to also be unemployed. During the survey week, the individual must be not employed, available for work and taking active steps to find work, in order to be counted in the unemployment rate. Individuals who do not count in the unemployment rate are individuals whom are discouraged, and no longer actively looking for work. Individuals who are underemployed, which means that they are not working full-time, but would like to, are not considered to be unemployed (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council). The participation rate is calculating by adding the individuals, over the age of 15, who are part of the employment rate to the individuals who are in the unemployment rate (Australian Catholic Social Justice Council). The individuals who would not be included in the participation rate are those who are unemployed, but not actively looking for work, because they are discouraged. Also not included would be individuals who are not labor force. These are individuals who are not looking for work because they are going to school, are retired, are stay at home mothers or individuals with other family obligations, are confined to nursing homes, mental institutions or prisons, or in active duty military (Bureau of Labor Statistics). B. Charts of Participation Rates for Females and Males (All Figures Come from The Australian Bureau of Statistics) 1954 In this case, the Australian Bureau of Statistics did not publish very much information which can be gleaned about males verses females and the participation rates. It did not publish information, which it did in later editions, that detailed the employment rate, the unemployment rate, the unemployment numbers and employment numbers, etc. Therefore, the chart below has much more sparse information than the latter ones will. In 1954, the total number of men who were employed, including defence forces, was 2,821,000. The number of women who were employed, including defence forces, was 826,000. During this same period, there were 41,000 males who were unemployed, and 14,000 females who were unemployed. The unemployment rate was 1.8% for males in this year, and 1.9% of females. Therefore, the total number of men who were participating was, for the year, 1954, 2,862,000. The total number of females participating for that year was 840,000 (Australian Bureau of Statistics). 1967 In 1966, there were a total of 3,351,800 males who were employed. There were 32,900 males who were unemployed. The total number of men who were a part of the participation rate for that year was 3,384,600, which was 84.2% of the male population. There were 1,385,900 females who were employed that year, and 32,500 unemployed females that year. The total number of females who were a part of the participation rate for that year was 702,400, which was 49.7% of the female population (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Percent of population Males 3,351,800 32,900 1% 3,384,00 84..2% Females 1,385,900 32,500 2.3% 1,418,400 34.9% 1977 In 1977, there were 3,867,300 males who were employed, 183,100 males who were unemployed. The unemployment rate for males that year was 4.5% of the total labour force. The participation rate for males that year was 79.3% of the male population that year, for a total number of 4,050,400. That same year, there were 2,128,200 females who were employed, 163,700 females who were unemployed. The unemployment rate for females that year was 7.1% of the labour force, and the participation rate was 43.8% of the total population, for a total number of 2,291,900 females (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Males 3,867,300 183,100 4.5% 4,050,400 79.3% Females 2,128,200 163,700 7.1% 2,291,900 43.8% 1989 In 1989, there were a total of 4,571,900 males employed. There were 260,700 males unemployed. The total labour force was 4,832,600 for that year. The unemployment rate was 5.4% and the participation rate was 74.9%. For females, there were a total of 3,155, 700 females employed. 208,700 females were unemployed. The unemployment rate was 6.2%, and the participation rate was 74.9% (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Males 4,571,900 260,700 5.4% 4,832,600 74.9% Females 3,155,700 208,700 6.2% 3,364,400 50.8% 1998 In 1998, there were just under 5 million males employed and just under 4 million females. There were just under 500,000 males unemployed and around 320,000 females. The male unemployment rate was 8.2%, the female rate was 7.7%. The participation rate for males was around 74%, for females it was around 55%. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Males 4,926,900 442,900 8.2% 5,369,800 73.7% Females 3,810,500 319,400 7.7% 4,129,800 54.9% 2008 In 2008, just over 5 million males were employed and just under 5 million females were employed, so there was a rough equivalent. The unemployment rate for males was 4%, for females, just under 5%. The participation rate for males was just over 72%, for females, just over 58%. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Males 5,035,700 246,400 4% 6,152,400 72.2% Females 4,846,700 246,100 4.8% 5,093,100 58.3% C. Comparison of Married Women and Single Women Participation Rate 1954 I could not find the above information about married verses single women for the year 1954. I could, however, find information about the percentage of married women verses unmarried women who were employed (Australian Bureau of Statistics – Australian Social Trends). 1967 (Australian Bureau of Statistics) At this point, there were approximately the same number of married women as single women employed – both were just under 700,000 for both were employed. Moreover, the unemployment rate for each was roughly the same. The participation rate, however, was quite different, which would seem to indicate that there were more married women, population-wise, then single women. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Married Women 699,400 16,600 2.3% 716,000 27% Single Women 686,400 15,900 2.3% 702,400 49.7% 1977 In this year, the numbers diverged. There were almost twice as many married women employed as single women, which is probably due to the fact that, population wise, there were more married women than single women, and more of these married women went to work. The unemployment rate also greatly diverged – just under 5% of married women were unemployed, while 11% of single women were. The participation rate is closer, however, than in the 1969 survey – 42.3% of married women were participating, 33% of single women were. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Married Women 1,368,900 67,700 4.7% 1,436,600 42.3% Single Women 759,300 96,000 11% 855,300 33% 1989 (Australian Bureau of Statistics) The trend of divergent unemployment rates continues, as the unemployment rate for married women was 2.3%, while, for single women, the rate was 8.5%. The numbers of single women working, however, grew substantially, as did the numbers of married women – both grew by about 500,000. The participation rate, however, for single women remained the same – 33%. This would seem to indicate that there were just more single women in this year, by a substantial margin, then in the previous survey listed above. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Married Women 1,821,600 84,400 2.3% 1,906,000 51.5% Single Women 1,334,100 124,300 8.5% 1,458,400 33% 1998 In this year, there were substantially more married women working than in 1989 – the numbers grew by roughly 500,000. The numbers of single women working, however, did not have as strong of growth – their numbers grew by only roughly 200,000. The participation rate of single women did not grow by much, either. The earlier trends, however, of there being a large divergence in unemployment rates between the two groups held steady, however – married women had an unemployment rate of 4.7%, single women had an unemployment rate of 11%. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Married Women 2,304,400 114,700 4.7% 2,419,100 56.4% Single Women 1,506,100 204,700 11% 1,710,700 35% 2008 In this year, the number of single women jumped considerably, and the number in the labour force also caught up to married women. The unemployment rate, however, still was divergent – 4.7% of married women were unemployed, 8% of single women were. Employed Unemployed Total Labour Force Number Percent of Labour Force Number Participation Rate Married Women 2,505,400 116,000 4.7% 2,621,400 55% Single Women 2,341,300 201,000 8% 2,542,300 42% Bibliography Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (November 2008). Retrieved from: http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/D861E85B387C1C1ECA2574F8000FFC2D/$File/62020_oct%202008.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (November 1998) Retrieved from: http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/CA25687100069892CA25688900158929/$File/62030_Oct%201998.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (November 1989) Retrieved from: http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/4C84F9FBA37336B6CA2575A9001C845B/$File/62350_1989.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (December 1977) Retrieved from: http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/B30A00D5F3536BF3CA257490001BECAB/$File/61010_1977_CHAPTER1_THE_LABOUR_FORCE.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (December 1967) http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/4B8DF864C855C8EBCA257495001646EB/$File/61010_1967_CONTENTS_LABOUR_REPORT_NO_53.pdf Australian Bureau of Statistics. Labour Force (December 1954) Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ProductsbyReleaseDate/F9D1135B55CDAD2ECA25748E0003FD01?OpenDocument Australian Catholic Social Justice Council. Background Paper on Unemployment: Measuring Unemployment. Retrieved from: http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/content/publications/positionpapers/1999_7_1background_paper_on_unemployment_measuring_unemployment.html United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey. Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm Read More