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In the last issue of Status e News we highlighted that according to the ABS 2001 Census, less than 50% of all South Australians aged between 55 and 64 were actively engaged in the labour force ie either working or looking for work. Well, if our latest StatusPoll results are representative of the labour force, more than 80% of us still intend to be working post 55 years of age with 35% working beyond 65. What is particularly interesting is that 38% of female respondents indicated that they intended to be actively engaged in the workforce post 65 years of age compared with only 30% of male respondents.
ABS data shows that Australia’s labour force participation rate increased 3.2% to 63.6% between 1983 and 2003, entirely as a result of the increase in female participation, from 44.7% in 1983 to 55.9% in 2003. Conversely, during this same period, male participation fell from 76.7% to 71.6%. To put this into perspective the difference in participation rates between males and females in the labour force in 1983 was 32.1% and by 2003, the male participation rate was only 15.7% higher than the female rate.
Much of this change has come about because of the casualisation of the labour market and the propensity of employers to engage more staff on a part time basis. In 1983, part time employment accounted for only 17% of the labour force but by 2003, this had increased to 29%. Moreover, the growth of part time work has coincided with a shift in the Australian economy away from production to service based industries. In 2003, 75% of all employed people were engaged in the services sector, of which 34% worked part time - 52% women and 48% men. The balance of the labour force, [25%], services the production industries and 86% of those engaged in this sector work full time, of which 78% are men. Interestingly, the proportion of men comprising the “production” workforce, and the percentage of those working full time, has not changed since 1983.
Clearly, the last twenty five years has been a period of incredible change in terms of the nature of work, the participation rate of females and the proportion of those in the labour force working part time. These trends will continue to rise and, with greater access to subsidised child care and with the introduction of activity tests on those people receiving parenting payments after 1st July this year, we can expect even higher participation rates of females in the labour force in the future. The tipping point is in sight and it won’t be long before the participation rates of both males and females are equal and consequently, equality of opportunity is politicised more fervently.
So we can forget about the sea change and the tree change, it’s all about the sex change in the labour force that will continue to shape our social attitudes towards work and retirement in the future.
As advised in last issue of Status e News, we will not be publishing a featured article this week because of the public holiday. However, we do profile two new "Employee Hot Prospects" this week, and remind our readers that if you are looking for staff, please consider our Free Work Trials promotion for any of our previously profiled candidates, which can be accessed from the “hot chilli” link at right.
And finally, we are now mid way through the Footy Tipping Competition, and apart from announcing our round 11 winner, we announce the winners of our mid season prize awarded to our best and luckiest tippers.
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