| Title | Participation. Purpose Target. |
Associated Targets | To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK and close the gap with the top 5 OECD economies by 2017. |
Brief Description | Increased labour market participation is a key driver of economic growth. Scotland's labour market performance is currently strong compared to its historical position, with Scotland having the highest employment rate of the countries of the UK. The first part of the target is to see Scotland maintain this position. However, Scotland's employment rate currently lags behind those of many of our competitor nations. The second part of the target is for Scotland to narrow the gap between employment rates in Scotland, and the top 5 OECD countries (which are currently Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden). |
Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates | This indicator informs progress in relation to all five Strategic Objectives: Wealthier and Fairer;
Healthier;
Safer and Stronger;
Smarter; and
Greener. |
More Detailed Definitions | |
Definitions of Keywords | Participation is defined as covering those in employment. This will be measured using employment rates. Employment rates measure the proportion of the working age population in employment. For comparisons within the UK , the working age population is defined as females aged 16-59, and males aged 16-64. Employment is defined as people who are employees, self employed, on government training programmes and unpaid family workers. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD) is an international organisation helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy. 30 countries are currently members of the OECD - however, this is likely to increase in future years. For comparisons with the OECD the working age population is defined as those aged 15-64. |
Evidence Source | Progress against the first part of the target ( To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK) will be measured using the Labour Force Survey ( LFS). LFS data are collected by the Office for National Statistics ( ONS) and are available from 1992. Data for comparing Scotland's performance against the OECD countries are taken from the OECD web site based on the European Labour Force Survey data used in the Employment Outlook publication. The Scottish and UK data are sourced from the Annual Population Survey ( APS) and data for the other OECD members are taken from the OECD website. |
Baseline and Past Trends | To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK : Baseline: The baseline for this element of the target will be Scotland's position compared to the other countries of the UK in 2007 quarter 1 (covering January-March). In 2007 quarter 1, Scotland had the highest working-age employment rate of the UK countries. Close the gap with the top 5 OECD economies by 2017: Baseline: The baseline for this element of the target will be Scotland's employment rate relative to our competitors in the OECD in 2006. Chart 2 compares Scotland's employment rate against the countries of the OECD in 2006. In 2006, Scotland was ranked 9 th out of 31 countries. The top 5 countries in 2006 were Iceland, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, and New Zealand. Scotland's employment rate (as the proportion of the population aged 15-64) in 2006 was 72.3%. New Zealand's rate was 75.2% - this results in a 3 percentage point gap. |
Methodology for Data Source | This indicator is calculated as the number of working age people in employment divided by the total number of working age people. Working age is defined as males aged 16-64 and females aged 16-59 when looking at the comparisons within the UK. For International comparisons the working age population is defined as 15-64. The 95% confidence interval for the rolling 3 monthly estimates is approximately plus or minus 1.3 percentage points. The 95% confidence interval for the employment rate estimate from the APS is approximately plus or minus 0.5 percentage points. |
Data Ownership and Quality Assurance | The Labour Force Survey and the Annual Population Survey are National Statistics Publications. |
Publication of Data | Headline data from the Labour Force Survey are published each month on a rolling 3 month basis by the Office for National Statistics. The Labour Market Statistics First Release Historical Supplement published by ONS contains trend data to measure employment rates by country - Table 18. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/OnlineProducts/LMS_FR_HS.asp For international comparisons the source used for the Scottish and UK data is the Annual Population Survey. Data from the Annual Population Survey ( APS) are published on a quarterly basis by the Office for National Statistics. A publication of headline figures from the APS is published in June each year by the Scottish Government covering the period January to December of the previous year. Data are also published on the National Online Manpower Information System ( NOMIS) website ( www.nomisweb.co.uk) Data for the other OECD members are published on the OECD website, http://www.oecd.org/topicstatsportal/0,3398,en_2825_30453906_1_1_1_1_1,00.html |
Methodology for Recent Change Arrow on Scotland | To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK This evaluation is based on: any difference in the gap within +/- 1 percentage points of the equivalent quarter in the previous year suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. An increase of 1 percentage point or more suggests that the position is improving; whereas a decrease in the gap of 1 percentage point or more suggests the position is worsening. To close the gap with the top 5 OECD economies by 2017. This evaluation is based on: any difference in the gap within +/- 0.5 percentage points of last year's figure suggests that the position is more likely to be maintaining than showing any change. A decrease in the gap of 0.5 percentage points or more suggests that the position is improving; whereas an increase in the gap of 0.5 percentage points or more suggests the position is worsening. |
Future issues or reviews | The first part of the Participation Target (To maintain our position on labour market participation as the top performing country in the UK) is based on the working-age population, defined as males aged 16-64 and females aged 16-59. From May 2010 to May 2020, the state pension age for females will gradually increase from 60 to 65 (to equal that for males). This change to the state pension age will alter the sub-group of the population referred to as 'working age' and may impact on the measurement of this target from 2010. |