More J’cans staying outside the formal labour force
… High percentage of females said they ‘did not want to work’
ACCORDING TO data from the 2018 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, persons outside the labour force increased by 2.9 per cent when compared to the figures for 2017.
Prepared by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), the survey noted that there were 750,525 persons outside the labour force in 2018, of which 54.9 per cent said that they did not want to work and 28.4 per cent said that they were in school full time.
According to the PIOJ, the labour force consists of individuals 14 years and older who were employed in any form of economic activity for one hour or more during the survey week and persons who were unemployed, that is “although they had no job, were looking for work, or wanted and were willing to accept work during the reference week”.
At 59.5 per cent, the majority of persons outside the labour force were female aged 25-54 years.
The survey also noted that relative to males, 63.9 per cent more females ‘did not want to work’; 51.7 per cent were ‘incapable of work’; while 95.6 per cent ‘stayed home with dependents’; and 50.3 per cent of males were ‘at school full time’.
Dr Leahcim Semaj, founder of the business management consulting firm Above or Beyond, noted that persons staying outside of the labour force or those saying that they did not want to work, represented individuals who did not want to feel tied down in the formal system.
“They do not want to be trapped in that formal system that limits them to minimum wage, that limits them to one increase per year, that limits them to paying income tax out of their small salary that they don’t think they are getting any benefit from. On the other hand, if they are free to hustle, there is the possibility that they can earn a lot more than they would if they were trapped in the formal economy,” Semaj told The Sunday Gleaner.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
The survey noted that the age group 25–54 was a cause for concern as “this high level of economic inactivity among females in the prime working age group outside the labour force can have social implications and a deleterious impact on economic growth”.
“In that age group, the women are historically more industrious, and more educated than the men, so in a sense, they have more talents and skills to offer. The limitations of the formal economy traps them,” said Semaj.
“Even at a dance in a community, there is a whole ecosystem built around entertainment. There is a round robin in almost every community, and every weekend when a dance keep, hairdresser afi eat, dressmaker afi eat, cook afi eat. So all the people that provide the services and the goods associated with just that one entertainment event doesn’t show up on any economic and social survey.”