This publication is an annual release. Refer to Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Australia, Dec 2023 for the latest quarterly data.
Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation, Australia
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Factors that influence how people participate in the labour market and the hours they work
Reference period
2022-23 financial year
Released
27/11/2023
Key statistics
In 2022-23:
- The most common reason women were unavailable to start a job or work more hours within four weeks was 'Caring for children', while for men it was 'Long-term health condition or disability'.
- The most important incentives for people to seek a job or more hours were the "ability to work part-time hours" and "finding a job that matches skills and experience."
More frequent and detailed data on Barriers and Incentives
On 8 September 2022, the Australian Government announced additional funding for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to more frequently measure barriers and incentives to labour force participation. Starting with 2022-23 data, the ABS will now release data on barriers and incentives every year (rather than every two years), with a range of key measures on a quarterly basis.
The ABS is also continuing to partner across the Australian Public Service to identify additional data sources that can provide useful related insights. Examples of these initiatives can be found in Making greater use of other data.
Financial year 2022-23
In 2022-23, of the 18.5 million people aged 18 to 75 years:
- there were 9.4 million people who did not work full-time.
- there were 3.1 million people not participating in the labour force (excluding retirees and those unable to work), of whom 27% wanted a job.
- there were 1.0 million people working less than 16 hours, of whom 26% would like to work more hours.
| Table 1.1 - Labour Force Participation by preference for work or more hours, People who had a job | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed part-time | Not employed | ||
| Usually works 16-34 hours | Usually works 0-15 hours | Had a job to start or return to | |
| People aged 18 to 75 years | 2,972,700 | 955,800 | 209,900 |
| Would like to work more hours | 481,100 (16%) | 252,800 (26%) | - |
| Did not want more hours | 2,491,600 (84%) | 703,000 (74%) | - |
| Table 1.2 - Labour Force Participation by preference for work or more hours, People who did not have a job | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Not employed | |||
| Unemployed looking for work | Not in the labour force | Retired or unable to work | |
| People aged 18 to 75 years | 402,300 | 2,906,700 | 1,680,200 |
| Would like a job | 402,300 (100%) | 847,200 (29%) | - |
| Did not want a job | - | 2,059,500 (71%) | - |
Wanted a job or more hours
There were 2.0 million people who did not work full-time and wanted a job or preferred to work more hours. Determining whether these people were available to work or work more hours is important because those who are available have a greater potential to participate or increase their participation in the labour force than those who are not available.
Of the 2.0 million people who wanted a job or preferred to work more hours, most (1.6 million) were available to start within 4 weeks.
385,000 people were not available within four weeks or did not know when they could start a job or work more hours.
- The main reason women were unavailable to start work was "Caring for children" (36%). This was higher for mothers with children under 15 years (75%).
- The main reason men were unavailable to start work was "Long-term health condition or disability" (37%).
- For those with a long-term health condition, 42% indicated their main reason was "Long-term health condition or disability".
- Availability refers to the reference week (last week) or within four weeks.
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons not available to start work or more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 04 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 04.
- Availability refers to the reference week (last week) or within four weeks.
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons not available to start work or more hours."
- People with a long-term health condition are based on their responses to questions related to identifying a range of health conditions. This is asked separately from the main reason why they are not available to work or work more hours, and they are able to choose a main reason other than "long-term health condition or disability."
- Data sourced from Table 04 in Data downloads. Estimates for previous years are also available in Table 04.
The main reasons provided by mothers who indicated childcare was the main reason they were unavailable included:
- Preferred to stay home and look after their children (30%), and
- Childcare not available, childcare booked out, or no childcare in locality (28%).
- Availability refers to the reference week (last week) or within four weeks.
- Mothers refers to women with children aged under 15 years.
- Data sourced from Table 04 and Table 09 in Data downloads. Estimates for previous years are also available.
Difficulty finding a job or more hours
Of the 1.6 million people who wanted a job or more hours and were available to start, just under half (47%) were looking for work (757,400).
The main difficulties reported for finding work or more hours included:
- No jobs with suitable conditions or arrangements – 13%.
- Too many applicants for available jobs – 13%.
- Lacked necessary training, qualifications or experience – 12%.
- Data on the main difficulty is presented. More than one difficulty can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All difficulties finding work or more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 06 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 06.
- Data on the main difficulty is presented. More than one difficulty can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All difficulties finding work or more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 06 in Data downloads. Estimates for previous years are also available in Table 06.
Available and looking
Of the 757,400 people who wanted a job or more hours, and who were available and looking:
- 402,300 (53%) were classified as unemployed.
- 29,000 (4%) were not in the labour force (these people were not classified as unemployed because they were not available to start work in the reference week, but were available to start within 4 weeks or were only passively looking for work).
- 326,100 (43%) were employed and usually worked part-time hours (less than 35 hours per week).
Incentives
Incentives to join or increase participation in the labour force were asked of people aged 18-75 years who were either:
- Not in the labour force, excluding permanent retirees and people unable to work (who did not want a paid job).
- Unemployed.
- People who usually worked part-time (less than 35 hours).
People who had a job to start or return to were excluded.
The most important incentive for women was the "Ability to work part-time hours" with 51% of women rating this as "very important."
For men, the most important incentive was "Finding a job that matches skills and experience," with 34% rating it as "very important."
- Proportions calculated based on the number of people that rated the incentives as ‘Very important’.
- Data sourced from Table 10 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 10.
Parents with children under 15
There were 2.0 million parents aged 18-75 years with children under 15 who were not working full-time.
Of the 1.7 million mothers, the most important incentive was "Ability to work part-time hours" (68%).
Of the 306,600 fathers, the most important incentive was "Ability to vary start or finish times" (48%).
- Proportions calculated based on the number of people that rated the incentives as ‘Very important’.
- Data sourced from Table 10 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 10.
- Proportions calculated based on the number of people that rated the incentives as ‘Very important’.
- Data sourced from Table 10 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 10.
Long-term health conditions
There were 3.9 million people who were not working full-time and had a long-term health condition.
The most important incentives for people with a long-term health condition were the "Ability to work part-time hours" (42%) and "Finding a job that matches their skills and experience" (35%).
- Proportions calculated based on the number of people that rated the incentives as ‘Very important’.
- Data sourced from Table 10 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 10.
Available and not looking
There were 840,800 people who wanted a job or work with more hours, were available within four weeks but were not looking. 58% of these people were women and they commonly reported that "Studying or returning to studies" (16%) and "Caring for Children" (15%) were the main reasons for not looking for a job or work with more hours. The main reasons for men were "No need to work" (18%) and "Studying or returning to studies" (15%).
Did not want a job or more hours
Approximately 8.5 million people aged 18 years and over who were not in the labour force or who worked fewer than 35 hours reported that they did not want a job or more hours.
The main reason people not in the labour force did not want a job included:
- Permanently retired, will not work full-time again (39%).
- No need to work, satisfied, retired (for now) (24%).
- Long-term health condition or disability (17%).
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons for not wanting to work or work more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 09 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 09.
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons for not wanting to work or work more hours."
- People with a long-term health condition are based on their responses to questions related to identifying a range of health conditions. This is asked separately from the main reason why they do not want to work or work more hours, and they are able to choose a main reason other than "long-term health condition or disability."
- Data sourced from Table 09 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 09.
The main reason people not in the labour force did not want a job varies at different stages of life:
- For people aged 18-24 years - Studying or returning to studies (62%).
- For people aged 25-39 years - Caring for children (39%).
- For people aged 40-54 years - Long-term health condition or disability (32%).
- For people aged 55 years and over - Permanently retired, will not work full-time again (50%).
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons for not wanting to work or work more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 09 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 09.
For people who usually worked part-time, the main reason for not wanting more hours included:
- No need to work more, satisfied with current arrangements (45%).
- Caring for children (19%).
- Studying or returning to studies (14%).
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons for not wanting to work or work more hours."
- Data sourced from Table 09 in Data downloads. State breakdowns and revised estimates for previous years are also available in Table 09.
- Data on the main reason is presented. More than one reason can be provided and is available in the microdata as "All reasons for not wanting to work or work more hours."
- People with a long-term health condition are based on their responses to questions related to identifying a range of health conditions. This is asked separately from the main reason why they do not want to work or work more hours, and they are able to choose a main reason other than "long-term health condition or disability."
- Data sourced from Table 09 in Data downloads. Estimates for previous years are also available in Table 09.
September quarter 2023
In September quarter 2023, there were 18.8 million people aged 18-75 years. Of these:
- 13.8 million were employed or had a job to start or return to (73%).
- 1.6 million were retired or permanently unable to work (9%).
- 3.4 million did not have a job (18%).
The ABS advises caution when interpreting quarterly estimates from the Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation survey as the survey sample was originally designed to produce high quality annual output. From January 2023, the ABS has increased the sample and estimates for March quarter 2023 onwards are on the increased sample.
Wanting to work
Of the 3.4 million people who did not have a job in September quarter 2023, 1.2 million people wanted a paid job (37%) and 2.1 million people did not want a job (63%).
- For men and women aged 18-24 years, the main reason for not wanting to work was 'Studying or returning to studies' (53%).
- For women aged 25-39 years, the main reason was 'Caring for children' (56%).
- For men aged 25-39 years, the main reason was 'Studying or returning to studies' (22%).
- For women aged 40-54 years, the main reason was 'Caring for children' (23%).
- For men aged 40-54 years, the main reason was 'Long-term health condition or disability (31%).
In September quarter 2023, of those aged 18-75 years who did not have a job, were not retired and not permanently unable to work:
- 2.1 million people had long term health conditions, and 717,900 wanted a paid job (35%).
- 1.4 million people had disability, and 481,700 wanted a paid job (34%).
The Short Disability Module questions (and especially the first three questions) in the MPHS are not designed to estimate prevalence but rather allow for the broad comparison of the characteristics of people with and without disability. This is because the MPHS uses a subset of 3 questions from the Short Disability Module (SDM) to determine if a person has disability. The Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers includes over 160 questions and therefore applies further criteria to determine if a person has disability. For more information, refer to the Glossary in Methodology.
People can have both long-term health conditions and disabilities. For people with long-term health conditions, about 50% also have disability. For people with disability, about 90% also have long-term health conditions. This survey does not establish if there is a relationship between a person’s long-term health conditions and their disability.
Available to work
Of the 1.2 million people who wanted a paid job in September quarter 2023, 1 million were available within four weeks (81%) and 238,600 were not available within four weeks (19%).
The main reasons women were not available to work were:
- Caring for children (44%).
- Short-term illness or injury (15%)
- Long-term health condition or disability (14%).
The main reasons men were not available to work were:
- Long-term health condition or disability (42%).
- Caring for children (4%).
Incentives
Of the 3.4 million people who did not have a job in September quarter 2023, the most important incentive to encourage them into the labour force was 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience', which was rated as 'Very important' by 33% of people without a job.
- For men and women aged 18-24 years, the most important incentive was the 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience' (41% rated as 'Very important'), followed by 'Access to a mentor or someone to offer support in the workplace' (36%).
- For women aged 25-39 years, the most important incentives were 'Ability to work school hours' (55%), followed by 'Ability to work part-time hours' (52%), and 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience' (50%).
- For men aged 25-39 years, the most important incentives was 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience' (58%), followed by 'Support for training or study to improve your skills' (42%).
- For women aged 40-54 years, the most important incentives were 'Ability to work part-time hours' (53%) followed by 'Working a set number of hours on set days' (44%) and 'Ability to vary start or finish times' (42%).
- For men aged 40-54 years, the most important incentive was 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience' (41%), followed by 'Working a set number of hours on set days' (32%).
- For people with long-term health conditions, the most important incentive was 'Ability to work part-time hours' (30%).
- For people with disability, the most important incentive was 'Finding a job that matches skills and experience' (28%).
Note: An issue was detected in the 2023-24 collection which resulted in incomplete incentives data for people who did not want to work. This issue only relates to 2023-24 data and does not affect other data for this population group or data for other groups. For the September quarter 2023, this issue has been addressed using imputation based on September quarter 2022 data. The ABS will review this imputation approach when September quarter 2024 data becomes available.
Previous quarters
June quarter 2023
Barriers and Incentives microdata in DataLab
Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation microdata for financial years 2014-15 to 2022-23 and September quarter 2014 to June quarter 2023 are available in ABS DataLab, released as a supplementary file for the Longitudinal Labour Force (LLFS) microdata. All existing users of the LLFS microdata will automatically get access to the additional file and new users can apply for access to both files.
A detailed data item list for the Barriers and Incentives microdata is available in Microdata and TableBuilder: Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation.
Data downloads
Tables - Financial year
Last updated 7 February 2024.
Data files
Table 1. Participation status
Table 2. Whether wanted a job or more hours
Table 3. Occupation and Industry of current or last job
Table 4. Unavailable workers and job seekers
Table 5. Reasons not looking for work or more hours
Table 6. Difficulties finding work or more hours
Table 7. Preferred hours of people not participating
Table 8. Preferred hours of part-time workers
Table 9. Reasons not wanting to work or work more hours
Table 10. Incentives to participate
Table 11. Whether would return to work and main reason
Table 12. Populations by State and territory
Tables - Quarterly measures
Last updated 7 February 2024.
Data files
Table Q1. Participation status
Table Q2. Whether wanted a job or more hours
Table Q3. Unavailable workers and job seekers
Table Q4. Reasons not looking for work or more hours
Table Q5. Difficulties finding work or more hours
Table Q6. Reasons not wanting to work or work more hours
Table Q7. Incentives to participate
Making greater use of other data
In addition to the announcement in September 2022 of funding for more frequent and detailed data on barriers and incentives, the Government announced additional related funding for enhanced ABS labour market data in "Working Future" on 25 September 2023.
Additionally, Government investment is supporting the ABS to deliver the Life Course Data Initiative. This will involve developing the Life Course Data Asset to improve our understanding of how communities experience disadvantage by improving the evaluation of existing policy to inform long-term decision making.
The ABS is also partnering with other parts of the Australian Public Service to identify other data – particularly rich administrative datasets – that can provide information on how different groups of people participate in the labour market. These valuable insights into labour force participation, and the extent to which they are changing over time, complement the data that is available from Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation.
Administrative data provides a greater ability to produce robust estimates of changes over time for relatively small groups of people, particularly when integrated with a large demographic dataset like the Census. For a list of recent and current analysis of large administrative datasets, see Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) Research Projects.
Examples of other related data activities across the Australian Public Service include:
- The Department of Social Services has noted significant changes in the barriers to labour market participation over time for particular groups in HILDA, Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA) and other longitudinal studies. The Department is also releasing additional data on income support recipients.
- The Department of Home Affairs has produced, through the Continuous Survey of Australia’s Migrants (CSAM), employment outcome data for the recent skilled migrant cohort.
- Jobs in Australia (JIA), produced by the ABS from the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED), now contains information on employed migrants, allowing further analysis of migrant outcomes. This product complements the linked Census and Home Affairs data in the Permanent Migrants in Australia and Temporary Visa Holders in Australia datasets, both of which are were released in early 2023.
- Since April 2023, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has been providing additional monthly data on people participating in the Workforce Australia program.
Related publications
Information related to barriers and incentives is also available in:
- Participation, Job Search and Mobility (6226.0), 2015-2023.
- Potential workers (6228.0).
- Underemployed workers (6229.0).
- Disability, Ageing and Carers (4430.0), 1981-2018.
- Pregnancy and Employment Transitions (4913.0), 2005-2017.
- Persons Not In the Labour Force, Underemployed Workers and Job Search Experience (6226.0.55.001), 2014.
- Persons Not In the Labour Force (6220.0), 1975-2013.
- Job Search Experience (6222.0), 1976-2013.
- Underemployed Workers (6265.0), 1985-2013.
- Australian Social Trends - Disability and Work (4102.0), Mar 2012.
- Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience (6245.0), 1982-2000.
- Australians' Employment and Unemployment Patterns (6286.0), 1994-1997.
- Occasional Paper: Labour Market Programs, Unemployment and Employment Hazards (6239.0.00.002), 1997.
- Focus on Families - A Statistical Series: Education and Employment (4421.0), 1994.
- Australia's Long-Term Unemployed, A Statistical Profile (6255.0), 1993.
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6239.0*.
* Note: Catalogue number 6239.0 was also previously used for Information Paper - Review of ABS Employment Statistics, 1981.
Post release changes
08/05/2024
- Financial year Table 12 estimates rebenchmarked to November 2023 Labour Force Survey. These revisions incorporate the final rebasing of ERP to the results of the 2021 Census.
08/02/2024
- Table Q7 was updated to reflect improved imputation of incentives data for people with disability in the September quarter 2023, where the information was not able to be collected.
07/02/2024
- Quarterly estimates published for September quarter 2023.
- An issue was detected in the 2023-24 collection which resulted in incomplete incentives data for people who did not want to work. This issue only relates to 2023-24 data and does not affect other data for this population group or data for other groups. For the September quarter 2023, this issue has been addressed using imputation based on September quarter 2022 data. The ABS will review this imputation approach when September quarter 2024 data becomes available.
- Estimates rebenchmarked to November 2023 Labour Force Survey (both financial year and quarterly estimates). These revisions incorporate the final rebasing of ERP to the results of the 2021 Census.
- Microdata in DataLab was updated to include the revised estimates and the new data for the September quarter 2023. Refer to Microdata and TableBuilder: Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation for more information.
- Tables have been updated to include the option to select Main reason or All reasons where applicable (for example, 'main reason not looking for work' or 'all reasons not looking for work').
- Previously missing family relationship items 'Family composition of household', 'Social marital status' and 'Relationship in household' were re-instated for the 2014-15 and 2016-17 financial years.
- New populations of interest were added: 'People without children aged 0 - 14 years', 'People on any government pension or allowance', 'Areas of socio-economic disadvantage', and 'Part-time casual workers'.
- References to the outdated term 'sickness' have been replaced with 'short-term illness' or 'long-term health condition'.