Why employment rates can hide women’s disadvantage

Women’s conventional employment rate was just under 70%, but their FTEER was just under 51%. Their FTEUR was also slightly higher than men’s. Hours change the story.

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A conventional rate counts people as employed, even after just one hour of work. FTE measures instead reassign underemployed hours from employment to unemployment, showing labour use more fully.

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That changes the gender comparison: conventional unemployment is higher for men, but FTEUR is higher for women once desired and actual hours are included.

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Rural areas matter. Women’s FTEER is lowest in predominantly rural areas, while their conventional employment rate is lowest in predominantly urban areas. Person-based rates can mask rural women’s disadvantage.

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The measures have boundaries. Both exclude economically inactive people who want a job. FTEUR also does not subtract overemployment, since those hours are already being supplied.

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The takeaway is not that one rate replaces another. Rates depend on the question: count people with conventional measures, or assess labour hours used and left unused with FTE measures.

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