Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Australia methodology

Since the estimates published in this publication are based on information obtained from occupants of a sample of households, they are subject to sampling variability. That is, they may differ from those estimates that would have been produced if all households had been included in the survey. One measure of the likely difference is given by the standard error (SE), which indicates the extent to which an estimate might have varied by chance because only a sample of households (or occupants) was included.

There are about two chances in three (67%) that a sample estimate will differ by less than one SE from the number that would have been obtained if all households had been included, and about 19 chances in 20 (95%) that the difference will be less than two SEs.

Another measure of the likely difference is the relative standard error (RSE), which is obtained by expressing the SE as a percentage of the estimate.

RSE% = (SE/estimate) x 100

RSEs for Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation estimates have been calculated using the Jackknife method of variance estimation. This process involves the calculation of 30 'replicate' estimates based on 30 different subsamples of the original sample. The variability of estimates obtained from these subsamples is used to estimate the sample variability surrounding the main estimate.

The Excel spreadsheets in the Data downloads section contain all the tables produced for this release and the calculated RSEs for each of the estimates. The RSEs for estimates other than medians have been calculated using the Jackknife method, and RSEs for the medians have been calculated using the Woodruff method.

In the tables in this publication, only estimates (numbers, percentages, means and medians) with RSEs less than 25% are considered sufficiently reliable for most purposes. However, estimates with larger RSEs have been included. Estimates with an RSE in the range 25% to 50% should be used with caution while estimates with RSEs greater than 50% are considered too unreliable for general use. All cells in the Excel spreadsheets with RSEs greater than 25% contain a comment indicating the size of the RSE. These cells can be identified by a red indicator in the corner of the cell. The comment appears when the mouse pointer hovers over the cell.

RSEs are routinely presented as the measure of sampling error in this publication and related products. SEs can be calculated using the estimates (counts or means) and the corresponding RSEs.

An example of the calculation of the SE from an RSE follows. An estimate of males who were unemployed was 309,800, and the RSE for this estimate was 6.7%. The SE is:
 

SE of estimate

= (RSE / 100) x estimate

= 0.067 x 309,800

= 20,800 (rounded to the nearest 100)
 

Therefore, there are about two chances in three that the value that would have been produced if all dwellings had been included in the survey would fall within the range 289,000 to 330,600 and about 19 chances in 20 that the value would fall within the range 268,200 to 351,400. This example is illustrated in the following diagram.
 

Actively looking for work includes:

• written, telephoned or applied to an employer for work
• had an interview with an employer for work
• answered an advertisement for a job
• checked or registered with an employment agency
• taken steps to purchase or start your own business
• advertised or tendered for work, and
• contacted friends or relatives in order to obtain work.
   

Refers to people who were available to start work or more hours either in the reference week, or in the four weeks subsequent to the interview.

Employed people who usually worked 0–34 hours per week in all jobs and were available to start work with more hours in the reference week or in the four weeks subsequent to the interview.

People who were undertaking study for a trade certificate, diploma, degree or any other educational qualification at the time of the survey.

People who said 'no' or 'don't know' when asked 'would you prefer to work more hours than you usually work?'.

People who were not classified as employed or unemployed who answered 'no' or 'don't know' when asked if they would like a paid job.

Length of time worked in current main job or last job if not employed.

People who, during the reference week:

• worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (comprising employees and owner managers of incorporated or unincorporated enterprises), or
• worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers), or
• were employees who had a job but were not at work and were:
  • away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week, or
  • away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week, or
  • away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement, or
  • on strike or locked out, or
  • on workers' compensation and expected to return to their job, or
• were owner managers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.
   

People who work for a public or private employer and receive remuneration in wages, salary, commission, tips, piece rates, or payment in kind.

People who operate their own incorporated enterprises can also be classified as employees, but are categorised in a separate category, see Owner managers of incorporated enterprises (OMIEs) and Status in employment.

Employees who were entitled to either paid sick leave or paid holiday leave (or both).

Employees who were not entitled to, or did not know whether they were entitled to, paid sick and paid holiday leave.

Two or more people, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering; and who are usually resident in the same household. The basis of a family is formed by identifying the presence of a couple relationship, lone parent-child relationship or other blood relationship. Some households will, therefore, contain more than one family.

Employed people who usually work 35 hours or more a week in all jobs.

People who were not employed during the reference week, were waiting to start a job within four weeks from the end of the reference week, and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.

People who are not in the labour force or are unemployed and have previously worked in the last 20 years

An industry relates to a group of businesses or organisations that perform similar sets of activities in terms of the production of goods and services. In this publication, industry is classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 Revision 2.0 (cat. no. 1292.0).

The civilian population can be split into two mutually exclusive groups: the labour force (employed and unemployed people) and not in the labour force.

Refers to the last job worked within the last 20 years.

A person's level of highest non-school qualification is the highest qualification a person has attained in any area of formal study other than school study. It is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Level of education classification.

Looked for work with more hours at some time during the four weeks up to the end of the reference week.

The job in which most hours were usually worked.

People who are either unemployed or not in the labour force.

An occupation relates to a collection of jobs that are sufficiently similar in their title and tasks, skill level and skill specialisation which are grouped together for the purposes of classification. In this publication, occupation is classified according to ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2 (cat. no. 1220.0).

People who work in their own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (may also be known as a limited liability company).

An owner manager of an incorporated enterprise may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business. See Status in employment for more information.

People who operate their own unincorporated enterprise or engage independently in a profession or trade.

An owner manager of an unincorporated enterprise may or may not hire one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business. See Status in employment for more information.

Employed people who usually worked less than 35 hours a week (in all jobs). This includes people who don't usually work (i.e. usually work 0 hours per week), but during the reference week they were employed between 1-34 hours.

People who were classified as employed or unemployed.

People who were not classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employed people who usually work less than 35 hours a week and would prefer to work more hours than they usually work.

The week preceding the week in which the interview was conducted.

The relationship of people who live in the same household.

Status in employment is determined by an employed person's position in relation to their job, and is usually in respect to a person's main job if they hold more than one job.

Employed people are classified according to the reported relationship between the person and the enterprise for which they work, together with the legal status of the enterprise where this can be established. The groups include:

• Employees with leave entitlements
• Employees without leave entitlements
• Owner manager of incorporated enterprise (OMIEs) with employees
• Owner manager of incorporated enterprise (OMIEs) without employees
• Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise (OMUEs) with employees
• Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise (OMUEs) without employees, and
• Contributing family workers.
   

The elapsed time since ceasing last job.

People who were not employed during the reference week, and:

• had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week, and
• were available for work in the reference week, or
• were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.
   

Includes caring for own children or other people's children, including grandchildren. Also includes caring for the elderly or someone with a long-term illness or disability, or undertaking unpaid voluntary work. Respondents were asked whether they had undertaken any of these activities in the last four weeks.

Usual hours of work refers to a typical period rather than the hours worked in a specified reference period. The concept of usual hours applies both to people at work and to people temporarily absent from work, and is defined as the hours worked during a typical week or day. Actual hours worked (for a specific reference period) may differ from usual hours worked due to illness, vacation, strike, overtime work, a change of job, or similar reasons. It is possible for a person to usually not work any hours in a typical week (usually work 0 hours) but be classified as employed based on the hours worked during the specific reference period.

People who are not in the labour force and would like a paid job of any kind. Includes people who answered 'Maybe/it depends'.

See 'Preferred to work more hours'.