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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
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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
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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
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.
[Indicator 15]
 [Indicator 17]
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