SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
 
 
OVERVIEW
 
The 2010-11 Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) revealed that of the 16.5 million people aged 18 years and over, there were 6.4 million people who were not employed or who worked fewer than 16 hours. This group comprised people not in the labour force (5.0 million), the unemployed (472,700 people) and people working fewer than 16 hours (944,600 people).
 
Of those 6.4 million people, approximately 1.7 million (or 27%) indicated that they would like a job or to work more hours. This group comprised:

• 970,600 (or 57%) people who wanted a paid job but were not in the labour force;
• 472,700 (or 28%) people who were unemployed; and
• 273,500 (or 16%) people who usually worked fewer than 16 hours per week but wanted to work more.

 
The remaining 4.7 million people (or 73%) did not want a job or did not want to work more hours, or were undecided.
 
Estimates are based on data collected between the period of July 2010 and June 2011.
 
 
PEOPLE WHO WANTED A JOB OR MORE HOURS
 
There were 1.7 million people who wanted a job or preferred more hours. Determining whether these people are available to work 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 1.7 million people who wanted a job or preferred more hours:

• 1.4 million people were available to start work within four weeks. Of these:
  • 776,500 people were not looking for work or more hours; and
  • 633,800 people were looking for work or more hours.
• 305,600 people were not available to start work or work more hours within four weeks.

 
Women represented sixty percent (60%) of those who wanted a job or preferred more hours. This reflects the fact that more women are underemployed or not in the labour force than men.
 
 
Available but not looking for a job or work with more hours
 
Of the 1.4 million people who wanted a job or more hours and were available to start work within four weeks, an estimated 776,500 people (55%) indicated that they were not looking for a job or more hours. Most of this group were women (522,400 or 67%) and most were not in the labour force (667,400 or 86%).
 
'Caring for children' was the most commonly reported main reason for not looking for work or more hours (132,500 people). Women comprised the majority of this group (95% or 126,200). For those people who cited 'caring for children' as their main reason for not looking for work or more hours, 53,400 people (40%) reported they 'preferred to look after children' as the main reason for this, while 30,800 people (23%) reported 'children too young or too old for childcare'.
 
Another commonly reported main reason for not looking for work or more hours was 'studying/returning to studies' (104,200 people). Most people who reported this (72% or 75,400) were aged between 18 and 29 years, with 35% in this age group citing it as their main reason.

 
Available and looking for a job or work with more hours
 
There were 633,800 people who wanted a job or more hours, were available, and were looking for work or more hours, of whom:

• Over half (52%) were men;
• 472,700 were unemployed (75%);
• 135,500 usually worked fewer than 16 hours (21%); and
• 25,600 were not in the labour force (4%) (these people are defined as not in the labour force rather than unemployed because they were not available to start work in the reference week, but were available to start within four weeks).

 
One of the main difficulties in finding a job reported by people who were available and looking for a job or work with more hours was 'no jobs or vacancies in locality or line of work or at all ' (81,500 people or 13%). Just over half of those who reported this (53%) were men. 'Lacks necessary training/qualifications/experience' was another commonly reported difficulty (80,300 people or 13%), and 57% of those reporting this were men.

 
Not available to start a job or work with more hours
 
There were 305,600 people who wanted a job or more hours but who were not available to do so. Most of these (91%) were not in the labour force, while the remaining 9% comprised people who worked fewer than 16 hours. Just over two-thirds (209,100 or 68%) of those who wanted work or more hours but were not available were women.
 
The reasons given by people for their unavailability varied by age, reflecting the fact that the reasons tend to change across the stages of the life cycle. The most common main reasons given by young people (those aged 18-29 years) for their unavailability was 'caring for children' (41%). For those aged 30-54 years who wanted to work (more) but were unavailable, 41% cited 'caring for children' as their main reason while a further 34% reported 'long-term sickness or disability' as their main reason. For older people (aged 55 years and over) 'long-term sickness/injury' was their most commonly reported main reason (53%).

Men and women had different reasons for not being available to start work or more hours within four weeks. About 45% of the 209,100 women who wanted to work (more) but were unavailable reported that 'caring for children' was their main reason for their unavailability. Almost half (95,700) of women not available to start work reported that their youngest child was aged four years or less. The next commonly reported main reason given by women for not being available was 'long-term sickness or disability' (18% or 38,300). Over one-third of women who were not available to start work or more hours within four weeks reported that they would be available to start work or more hours within 6 months.
 
Of the 96,400 men who wanted a job or more hours but were not available, almost seventy percent reported that their main reason for unavailability was 'long-term sickness or disability' (69% or 66,400). Of the men not available to start work, 19% reported that they would be available to start work or more hours within 6 months.

 
Preferred weekly hours
 
Of the 970,600 people not in the labour force who wanted a job, 78% reported that they would prefer to work part-time hours (64% of men and 84% of women). The average preferred number of hours was 27 (29 hours for men and 27 hours for women).
 
For those who worked few hours, males preferred an average of 28 hours per week, whereas females preferred an average of 26 hours.
 
 
PEOPLE WHO DID NOT WANT (MORE) WORK
 
Seventy-three percent (or 4.7 million) of those who were not employed or who worked fewer than 16 hours indicated that they did not want (more) work. This comprised:

• 4.0 million people (2,478,200 women and 1,561,200 men) who were not in the labour force; and
• 671,100 people (489,000 women and 182,200 men) who usually worked fewer than 16 hours.

 
People who were not in the labour force and didn't want to work were generally older - 75% of them were aged 55 years and over. Women aged 55 years and over formed the largest single group, representing 43% of those who were not in the labour force and did not want to work, while men of that age represented 33%. Men in the younger age groups represented only a very small proportion of those not in the labour force who didn't want to work - men aged 18-54 years formed just 6% of this group. In contrast, women aged 18-54 years formed 19%.

Of the 4.0 million people not in the labour force who did not want to work, the most commonly reported main reasons for not wanting a job were 'no need/satisfied with current arrangements/retired from full-time work (for now)' (27% or 1.1 million), and 'permanently retired from full time work' (27% or 1.1 million), then 'long-term sickness or disability' (20% or 815,200).
 
'Long-term sickness or disability' was reported by 26% of men (or 404,500), with the highest proportion of these aged 55 years and over (78%). Twelve percent of women (or 307,600) indicated the main reason that they did not want to work was due to 'caring for children'. Most of these women were aged 30-54 years (68%). Of the 18-29 years age group, 47% reported that 'studying or returning to studies' was the main reason they didn't want to work.

 
Men and women who usually worked fewer than 16 hours and didn't want more hours were relatively young - 50% of them were aged between 18 and 44 years. Women made up approximately three-quarters of those (73%) who worked fewer than 16 hours and who didn't want more work. The 55 years and over and 30-54 years age groups for women, each accounted for 20% of those working fewer than 16 hours and not wanting more work. Men aged 55 years and over formed the largest group (15%) of those who worked fewer than 16 hours and did not want more work.

 
The most commonly reported main reason that women gave for not wanting more hours was 'caring for children' (37% or 180,700 women gave this response). Over half of women (56%) aged 30-54 years not wanting more hours (or 159,400) reported this as the main reason. Nearly one third (31%) of women working fewer than 16 hours who did not want to work more hours indicated that their main reason was 'no need/satisfied with current arrangements/retired from full-time work (for now)'.
 
There were 182,200 men who usually worked fewer than 16 hours and did not want more hours. The most commonly reported main reason given by 47% of those men for not wanting more hours was 'no need/satisfied with current arrangements/retired from full-time work (for now)', almost all of this group is aged 55 years and over. This was followed by 'studying/ returning to studies' (32% or 58,800), with 91% of this group aged 18-29 years.