Labour Force Participation

Gender comparison using 2011 Census data (ages 25-54)

The purpose of this post was to get an idea of the geographic distribution of participation rates over the whole country. The data was restricted to the 25-54 age group to highlight the times when people are most likely to be working and rearing a family.

Labour force participation rate: The labour force (those at work, looking for first regular job, and unemployed) as a percentage of the total population.

Here is the map - hover over for more information (‘hover-over’ not currently perfected for some mobile browsers)…

Overall Male v Female

The range of values were found to be:-

Female: 70.7% (Limerick City) to 79.0% (Dublin City).
Male: 84.4% (Limerick City) to 94.2% (Meath).

It is to be expected that women should have lower rates given their traditional role in rearing the family.

Each gender separately

Female: It can be seen that participation rates for females are above average in many western counties. The cities of Dublin, Waterford and Galway also have high rates.

Male: There is a much more distinct urban/rural divide here. All 5 main cities have rates at or below average, while all other areas are above.

Technical details…

…I’ll come clean. One of the main reasons for this post was to get started with mapping in D3 (an open-source javascript library used to display information online). There was quite a bit to it; if you’re interested click here.

Data Source: Central Statistics Office