A Cross-Country Analysis of Trends in Labor Force Participation

Abstract

This article documents trends in the total and gender specific labor force of 23 countries over the 40 years after 1950. There are several common features of this period across countries as well as some significant differences. For example, in almost all countries there is an increase in women's labor force participation rate and either no change or a slight decrease in men's labor force participation rate. While the changes in female labor force participation rate are due to increases in 25-54 year olds, for men it is the behavior of the young (10-24) and the older (55 ) age groups that are responsible for the overall change. Countries show differences with respect to timing and the magnitude of the changes in the labor force participation of men and women. The results also point out the potential of the increase in the share of services in an economy for impacting female labor force participation patterns.