The general labour force participation rate may be used for the purpose of simple comparison. The researcher, however, is interested in more refined rates.
This need is fulfilled by computing age-sex specific labour force participation rates. Table 12.1 illustrates how these rates are computed by using the data of the 1991 census of India.
They are useful for comparisons between the various regions of a country, or between various countries, as they are not affected by the age composition of the population.
The crude labour force participation rate, the general labour force participation rate and the age-sex specific labour force participation rate may be computed separately for rural and urban areas, for various regions of the country and for various population groups defined on the basis of educational attainment, marital status, religious affiliations, etc.
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Manpower analysts have observed a fairly typical general pattern of male age specific labour force participation rates for various countries of the world.
Though sharp differences were observed among various countries with respect to the proportion of male workers at the upper and the lower ages, “close to 100 per cent of the men in the adult ages belong to the working force, with lesser proportions active both below and above these ages.”
While the participation rates, before age 25, increase with each successes age group as boys leave schools and take up jobs, after age 45, thi labour force participation rates decline with each successive group and decline more sharply after age 65.
The average inactivity rates by age for agricultural, semi-industrialized an industrialised countries.
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These rates we computed from the data collected from the census operations several countries during the 1950s.
It may be observed from that the male age specific labour force participation rates for the group below the age of 19 are the highest for agricultural countries and the lowest for industrialised countries, with those of the semi-industrialised countries somewhere in between.
The differences are even more striking when the younger age group of 10-14 years is considered. The average male participation rates for this age group in agricultural, semi-industrial and industrial countries were 23.9, 13.2 and 4.1 respectively.
The reasons why agricultural countries have the highest rates for this young age group are obvious. Children in agricultural countries start working at a very young age and consequently a very small proportion of children in agricultural societies continue to attend school up to the age of 14.
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On the other hand, in economically advanced countries, a very small proportion of children below the age of 15 are found to be economically active because of the strict enforcement of compulsory education up to a minimum standard and because of the labour laws in force.
Between the ages of 20 and 55, no significant variations are observed in the average activity rates for the three groups of countries at different levels of development. Differences are again observed at the higher ages.
In the least developed countries, the average male participation rates in the age group 55-64 and 65 and above are once again the highest. The differences in the average male participation rate become more pronounced in the age group 65 and above.
For agricultural, semi-industrial and industrial countries, these rates were 70.1, 61.0 and 37.7 respectively. From these data, it is obvious that, in agricultural countries, economic necessity compels men to continue to work as long as they are physically able to do so.