ABSTRACT
The International Labour Office and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) collect information on a variety of aspects relating to the population and employment profiles of their member countries. Linked to the growth in services and in female participation has been a substantial growth in part-time working within the OECD; in a number of countries one in five jobs is part-time. A variety of measures have been used by different international bodies to encapsulate the notion of ‘population of working age’, or that proportion of the total population considered potentially eligible for employment. Some consensus does exist, however, that the boundaries of this group should be 15 and 64 years inclusive. The ‘labour force’ comprises that part of the population of working age who are active in the labour market. An increased interest in employment, particularly among married women with children, has matched employers’ desire for more female labour.
