Persons Outside the Labour Force

Persons outside the labour force are those of working age who were neither in employment nor in unemployment in the short reference period.

For analysis of persons outside the labour force, the following alternative classifications may be used separately or in combination to shed light on specific subgroups affected by discouragement or by gender-based, economic or social barriers to employment:

• (a) degree of labour market attachment of persons outside the labour force:
  • (i) persons “seeking employment” but not “currently available”;
  • (ii) persons not “seeking employment” but “currently available”;
  • (iii) persons neither “seeking employment” nor “currently available” but who want employment;
  • (iv) persons neither “seeking employment” nor “currently available” who do not want employment.
• (b) main reason for not “seeking employment”, not being “currently available” or not wanting employment:
  • personal reasons (own illness, disability, studies);
  • family-related reasons (pregnancy, presence of small children, refusal by family);
  • labour market reasons (past failure to find a suitable job, lack of experience, qualifications or jobs matching the person’s skills, lack of jobs in the area, considered too young or too old by prospective employers);
  • lack of infrastructure (assets, roads, transportation, employment services); other sources of income (pensions, rents); social exclusion.
• (c) main activity status, as self-declared, in the following categories:
  • own-use production of goods;
  • own-use provision of services;
  • unpaid trainee work; volunteer work;
  • studies;
  • self-care (due to illness or disability);
  • leisure activities (social, cultural, recreational).

Resolution I. Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, the 19 ICLS