FRANCE The

Table 4: Employment by age across sectors, 2001
Males
One noticeable feature which emerges is the concentration of older
workers in the public sector. The figures show that nearly 25% of
those aged 55 to 64 years were engaged in “non market services”,
i.e., activities related to public administration, health, education and
social work. Over 20% of this age group were engaged in
distribution and transport activities, while some 14% were employed
in each of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The figures
for women show a much greater degree of concentration. No less
than 45% of women were engaged in public service activities
broadly defined, with virtually all of the remainder employed in
distribution or services. Broadly speaking the figures reveal, for both
men and women, a greater degree in sectoral concentration among
older workers than is evident for their younger counterparts.
The table also shows separate figures for the 65 years and over age
category. While the numbers involved are relatively small, it is of
interest to note that nearly 50% of workers aged 65 years or over
were engaged in agriculture, and just under 15% in the distribution
and transport industries.
It is also revealing to examine the proportion of workers within
industries, a feature which is illustrated in Figure 3. Not
unexpectedly, the highest share of older workers is in the
agricultural sector, the relevant proportion for those aged 55 years
15-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Total
Agriculture 7.3 12.0 17.7 53.6 10.6
Manufacturing 24.1 19.3 16.5 6.8 21.9
Construction 18.4 16.0 12.6 5.3 17.0
Distribution & Transp 21.3 20.1 21.2 14.1 20.9
Finance & Business Sves 11.7 9.3 8.8 5.3 10.7
Other Market Services 8.0 6.4 8.0 8.4 7.7
Non Market Services 9.0 16.8 15.1 6.5 11.2
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Females
Agriculture 1.1 2.9 5.0 22.2 1.8
Manufacturing 15.0 9.8 7.4 4.8 13.5
Construction 1.3 0.9 0.0 0.0 1.1
Distribution & Transp 22.0 16.8 18.4 15.9 20.8
Finance & Business Sves 16.6 11.7 8.2 7.9 15.1
Other Market Services 15.2 14.6 16.2 23.8 15.3
Non Market Services 28.8 43.3 44.8 25.4 32.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Persons
Agriculture 4.6 8.5 13.9 47.5 7.0
Manufacturing 20.2 15.7 13.8 6.4 18.5
Construction 11.0 10.2 8.8 4.3 10.5
Distribution & Transp 21.6 18.8 20.4 14.4 20.8
Finance & Business Sves 13.8 10.2 8.6 5.8 12.5
Other Market Services 11.2 9.6 10.5 11.3 10.8
Non Market Services 17.6 27.0 24.0 10.1 19.8
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Spring 2003 | European Employment Observatory Review 111
%
Trends
and over being more than 30% in 2001. The lowest proportion of
older workers are to be found in manufacturing industry and in
financial and business services, each with older worker shares of
about 7%. Even though the data are not shown explicitly in this
report, if one further sub-divides the manufacturing sector into a
high-technology component (i.e. machinery, computer products
and chemicals) and more traditional activities, it emerges that the
former involves a very small proportion of older workers – just over
5%. This result is not entirely unexpected given the nature of the
enterprises involved (many of which are multinational) and also the
fact that many are of relatively recent origin.
4. Labour market programmes relevant to older
workers
Basic support measures
There are in Ireland, as in most other countries, basic support
programmes, mainly in the social protection sphere, which are
designed to deal with or alleviate ageing or withdrawal from the
labour force. There are, for example, contributory and noncontributory
State pension schemes. The former, which applies at