6224.0 - Labour Force Status and other Characteristics of Families, Australia, Jun 2000

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/11/2000

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Explanatory Notes Glossary	Actively looking for work Includes writing, telephoning or applying in person to an employer for work; answering an advertisement for a job; checking factory noticeboards or the touchscreens at Centrelink offices; being registered with Centrelink as a jobseeker; checking or registering with any other employment agency; advertising or tendering for work; and contacting friends or relatives. Aggregate hours worked The total number of hours a group of employed persons has actually worked during the reference week, not necessarily hours paid for. Average duration of unemployment For any group of unemployed persons, the aggregate duration of unemployment divided by the number of persons in the group. Average family size For any group of families, the total number of family members divided by the number of families in the group. Average hours worked Aggregate hours worked by a group divided by the number of persons in that group. Couple families Families in which there are two married persons and these persons are husband and wife. See Marital status. Dependants All family members under 15 years of age; family members aged 15-19 attending school or aged 15-24 attending a tertiary educational institution full time (except those classified as husbands, wives or lone parents). Dependent student In couple or one parent families, sons or daughters aged 15-19 attending school or aged 15-24 attending a tertiary educational institution full time (except those classified as husbands, wives or lone parents). Duration of unemployment The period from the time a person began looking for work or was stood down, to the end of the reference week. Thus the survey measures current (and continuing) periods of unemployment rather than completed spells. For persons who may have begun looking for work while still employed, the duration of unemployment is defined as the period from the time the person last worked full time for two weeks or more to the end of the reference week. Employed Persons aged 15 and over 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, employers and own account workers); 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: on paid leave; on leave without pay for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week; stood down without pay because of bad weather or plant breakdown at their place of employment for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week; on strike or locked out; on workers’ compensation and expected to be returning to their job; or receiving wages or salary while undertaking full-time study; or were employers, self-employed persons or unpaid family helpers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work. Family Two or more related persons (relationship includes relationships by blood, marriage or adoption) usually resident in the same household at the time of the survey. A family comprises a married couple or a family head as defined, together with any persons having any of the following relationships to them: sons or daughters of any age, if not married and with no children of their own present; other relatives if not accompanied by a spouse, sons or daughters, or parents of their own; or any children under 15 years of age who do not have a parent present. Family head Any person without a spouse present: with a son or daughter aged under 15 present; or without a son or daughter aged under 15 present, but with a son or daughter aged 15 or over present (provided that the son or daughter has no spouse, son or daughter of his/her own present). Where a family has no person falling into either of these categories, the family head is generally defined to be the eldest person in the family. No family head is determined for a couple family. Full-time workers Employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) and others who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week. Household A group of one or more persons in a private dwelling who consider themselves to be separate from other persons (if any) in the dwelling, and who make regular provision to take meals separately from other persons, i.e. at different times or in different rooms. Lodgers who receive accommodation but not meals are treated as separate households. Boarders who receive both accommodation and meals are not treated as separate households. A household may consist of any number of families and non-family members. Husband See Marital status. Labour force For any group, persons who were employed or unemployed, as defined. Labour force status A classification of the civilian population aged 15 and over into employed, unemployed or not in the labour force, as defined. The definitions conform closely to the international standard definitions adopted by the International Conferences of Labour Statisticians. Lone parent The head of a one parent family. Lone person A person who is the sole member of a household. Main English-speaking countries The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand and South Africa. Marital status Persons are classified as married (husband and wife) if they are reported as being married (including de facto) and their spouse was a usual resident of the household at the time of the survey. The not-married category comprises persons who have never married, or are separated, widowed or divorced, as well as those who, although reported as being married, did not have a spouse who usually lived in the household. Median duration of unemployment The duration which divides unemployed persons into two equal groups, one comprising persons whose duration of unemployment is above the median and the other, persons whose duration is below it. Non-dependent child In couple or one parent families, sons or daughters aged 15 and over, other than those classified as dependant students, husbands, wives or lone parents. Non-family member A person who is not related to any other member of the household in which they are living. Not in the labour force Persons who were not in the categories employed or unemployed, as defined. They include persons who were keeping house (unpaid), retired, voluntarily inactive, permanently unable to work, persons in institutions (hospitals, gaols, sanatoriums, etc.), trainee teachers, members of contemplative religious orders, and persons whose only activity during the reference week was jury service or unpaid voluntary work for a charitable organisation. One parent families Families in which there is a family head together with at least one son or daughter of his/her own. Other countries All countries outside Australia other than the main English-speaking countries defined previously. Other families Families which are not couple families or one parent families, as defined. They include families in which there is no parent, for example, a family head living with a brother or sister. Participation rate For any group, the labour force expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 and over in the same group. Part-time workers Employed persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week and who did so during the reference week. Unemployed Persons aged 15 and over 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 would have been available except for temporary illness (i.e. lasting for less than four weeks to the end of the reference week); or were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and would have started in the reference week if the job had been available then; or were waiting to be called back to a full-time or part-time job from which they had been stood down without pay for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week (including the whole of the reference week) for reasons other than bad weather or plant breakdown. Unemployed looking for full-time work Unemployed persons who actively looked for full-time work or were to resume a full-time job, from which they had been stood down. Unemployment rate For any group, the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force in the same group. Wife See Marital status. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.