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BOX 2.3Labour force participation, employment and unemployment ratesThe labour force participation rate (LFPR) captures people who are currently employed and thosewho are unemployed (i.e., people who are not employed but are available and actively looking fora job) as a percentage of the working-age population. The working-age population is generallydefined as people aged 15 and above (with some national variation in cut-off points). 35Relatively higher LFPR in many developing countries reflect the large proportion of people—mostlywomen—who are involved in subsistence production. Unemployment rates —defined as thenumber of unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force—are generally much lower indeveloping than in developed countries. This is because, in the absence of unemployment insurance,most people in developing countries cannot afford to be unemployed and instead are active ininformal employment. None of these indicators takes into account unpaid care and domestic work,which is fundamental for the reproduction of the labour force (see Box 2.5).Continued debate on the merits of these indicators led to the International Conference of LabourStatisticians (ICLS) agreeing in 2013 to their fundamental overhaul. 36 Changes agreed include aredefinition of work and a narrower definition of employment, to comprise only those who areengaged in activities that are ‘mainly’ for pay or profit. This excludes people who are producinggoods and services ‘mainly’ for their own personal use or those who are doing volunteer work.These changes would mean that subsistence farming, as well as unpaid care and domestic work,would be categorized as work but not as employment. As a result better—and more meaningful—statistics on women’s and men’s work could be compiled, including LFPR and employment andunemployment rates, as well as on the time that women spend performing unpaid care anddomestic work (see Monitoring women’s economic and social rights in Annexes). 37WOMEN’S LABOUR FORCEPARTICIPATION: REGIONAL TRENDSBeyond these global headlines, there issubstantial regional variation. Figure 2.1 showsthe trends in male and female LFPR by regionbetween 1990 and 2013. In this period, women’sLFPR increased in Latin America and theCaribbean, in sub-Saharan Africa, in DevelopedRegions and to a limited extent in the MiddleEast and North Africa. Latin America and theCaribbean saw the largest increase in women’sLFPR from 40 to 54 per cent, narrowing thegender gap from 42 to 26 percentage points. Insub-Saharan Africa, women’s LFPR increasedfrom 59 to 64 per cent during the same period,resulting in a gender gap of 13 percentagepoints, the lowest of all regions.75