Essay on the Labor Force

While each person in the population is a consumer of the goods and services that are available, only some proportion of the population participates in their production.

It is obvious that the very young, the very old, as well as the physically and mentally incapacitated persons, are not useful for economic activity. It is, therefore, accepted that only those who can produce goods and services constitute the manpower of any nation.

The economically active population is that part of manpower which actually takes part, or tries to take part, in the production of goods and services.

The study of the economically active population or labour force occupies an important position in the field of population studies, and at present there is increasing interest in studying the various aspects of the labour force of any nation.

The economic and social development of a nation depends on the number of persons who are economically active, the quality of their work and the regularity of their employment.

When the statistics on labour force available from a national census are analysed, it becomes possible to know its absolute size as well as the proportion of the adult population constituting it.

These statistics thus provide an inventory of a nation’s supply of labour engaged in or available for economic activity. Labour force participation rates are useful for an understanding of the extent to which women, children and the aged participate in economic activity.

Several questions can be answered through an analysis of labour force statistics, from the point of view of social welfare. For example: What proportion of women is economically active? What types of jobs are taken up by women? What are their working hours and/or working conditions?

Do differentials exist in the wages of males and females engage the same type of economic activity other questions, which the well-being of the nation and which are worth considering.

What proportion of children of school-going age participates in labour force? What types of activities are they engaged in analysis can also be undertaken to find out the literacy status educational attainment of the workers in order to determine quality and skills.

A study of the labour force also c employment, unemployment and underemployment, as well as industrial and occupational structure. Such studies provide the on which national plans for social and economic development be built and are, therefore, considered important for policy- and planners.

Economically Active Population

It is customer classify the entire population into two categories, according to type of its activity. We have, for example, one group consist the economically active population and the other of those who not economically active.

In the recommendations made by the Nations for the conduct of a population census, it has been class as follows: “An economically active population comprises all per of either sex.

Who furnish the supply of labour available for production of economic goods and services during the time referred period chosen for the investigation? It includes both persons in civilian labour force and those serving in the armed forces.”

In compilation of data, a separate category, “members of the forces,” may be mentioned, so that the number of that empire in this category can be deducted from the total labour whenever desirable.

The civilian labour force comprises both employed and those unemployed during a particular time period.