5 International comparisons
5.1 Labour force participation in the OECD
Participation rates for both women and men are reasonably high in New Zealand compared to other OECD countries (Figure 13). The Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) tend to have the highest participation rates for women, although not necessarily for men. Iceland has very high participation rates for both sexes.
- Figure 13 – Participation rates in the OECD for the population aged 15-64
- a. women
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- b. men
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- Source: OECD Labour Market Statistics, 2003 data.
Compared to other countries, a relatively high proportion of female workers in New Zealand work part-time (Figure 14). The proportion of part-time work varies hugely across the OECD, from a high of 60% in the Netherlands to only 5% in the Czech Republic.
- Figure 14 – Part-time workers as a percentage of all female workers, 15-64
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- Source: OECD Labour Market Statistics, 2003 data; 2000 data for Switzerland, Czech Republic, Finland and Iceland from OECD (OECD 2002a) Table 2.1.
Differences in women’s participation rates between countries are likely to be due in part to differences in the sorts of factors discussed in Section 4, eg women’s wages, tax rates, education levels, family formation, sole parenthood, and the level of benefits relative to wages. The age structure of the working age population, and fertility rates, are also likely to have some effect on overall participation. Countries will also have different social norms, attitudes towards women working, laws about equal pay and discrimination, and different rates of government spending on childcare, parental leave and child benefits.[18]
Differences between countries have been reducing over time, at least for those countries which report participation rates from 1976 (Figure 15). The difference between participation rates in New Zealand and the Nordic countries, for example, has reduced markedly over this period.
- Figure 15 – Women’s labour force participation, 1976 and 2003
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- Source: OECD Labour Market Statistics; New Zealand data from the 1976 Census.
Notes
- [18]Jaumotte (2003) reports the results of a multivariate study of women’s participation in 17 OECD countries which finds that many of these factors are independently related to participation.
