Labour force participation

Notes on the data: Labour force

Female and male labour force participation, 2021

Policy context: The Population Census conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides information as to participation of females and males in the labour force for small geographic areas. The labour force comprises all persons counted in the Census aged 15 years and over, excluding overseas visitors. The participation rate is the number of people who were employed (working full-time, part-time or were away from work) or unemployed (and looking for full-time or part-time work), as a proportion of the labour force.

In 2022-23, of the 18 million people aged 18 to 75 years:

there were 9.1 million people who did not work full-time.
there were 3.1 million people not participating in the labour force (excluding retirees and those unable to work), of whom 28% wanted a job.
there were 1.0 million people working less than 16 hours, of whom 26% would like to work more hours.

The most significant change in labour force participation over the past 50 years has been has been women’s participation in paid work. Women made up almost half the paid workforce in Australia in 2020, compared to around 30% in 1966. In addition to participating in paid work at much greater levels than in the past, women are also working longer. This has changed across the generations - particularly at the ages when women usually have children.These changes have occurred in conjunction with changes in employment opportunities, greater access to paid parental leave, access to more flexible working arrangements and changes in the structure of the economy, and in particular the growth in service industries [1]. The latest Intergenerational Report also notes that there has been a significant increase in women’s participation across the age distribution, and the total participation rate for women has also reached a record high [2].

In comparison, male employment across time, and across the generations, has seen much smaller changes although current rates are lower than those 40 years ago and there have been substantial changes in the industries in which males have traditionally been employed [1].

Reference

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Changing female employment over time. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/changing-female-employment-over-time: last accessed 26 October 2021.
The Commonwealth of Australia, Intergenerational Report 2023: Australia’s future to 2063.

Notes: The other labour force measures in this atlas (for unemployment and labour force participation) have been compiled from data provided by the Jobs and Skills Australia, as those data are more closely aligned with the official unemployment data published by the ABS from the Labour Force Survey. However, as the small area estimates are not available for female or male labour force participation, these indicators have been sourced from data in the ABS Population Census.

As the data are based on self-reported information, and not subject to the criteria for labour force participation applied by the ABS in the Labour Force Survey and used in the estimates from Jobs and Sills Australia, they will not necessarily be consistent with the official estimates of labour force participation published by the ABS for the States, Territories and other regional areas (Statistical Areas Level 4).

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Females/males aged 15 years and over in the labour force

Denominator: All females/males aged 15 years and over

Detail of analysis: Per cent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2021.