55
underemployment and unemployment and then takes a closer look at the characteristics of the employed and underemployed. Section 5.4 looks at that subset of the workforce that has migrated in search of
employment, describing their characteristics of migrants and their labour market outcomes. The section also describes the situation with respect to seasonal migration. Section 5.5 estimates the prevalence and
characteristics of child labour in Afghanistan.
Table 5.1: Labour force definitions
National definitions International definitions
Employed All persons aged 14 and over who,
during the reference period of one week, were in paid employment or
self-employed and who worked at least eight hours.
Employed All persons aged 15 and over who,
during the reference period of one week, were in paid employment or
self-employed and who worked at least one hour.
Underemployed All persons aged 14 and over who,
during the reference period of one week, were:
a. working less than 40 hours
b. available to work additional
hours; and, c.
willing to work additional hours. Underemployed
All persons working hours of work that are insufficient in relation to
an alternative
employment situation in which the person is
willing and available to engage time-related underemployment.
Unemployed All persons aged 14 and over who,
during the reference period of one week, were:
Unemployed All persons aged 15 and over who,
during the reference period of one week, were
a. without any work or working less
than eight hours, and b.
seeking work. a.
without any work, i.e. were not in paid employment or self-
employment; b.
currently available for work; and,
c. seeking work.
Not gainfully employed
All persons aged 14 and over who, during the reference period of one
week, were unemployed or under- employed
Source: CSO 2014
5.2 Labour force participation
While roughly 15 million Afghans are at least 14 years of age and are in the working age cohort, large differences in the participation rates of men and women result in an overall participation rate of just 55
percent. While men’s participation rates are at a high 81 percent, with even men in the 70-75 age cohort
posting participation rates of 40 percent, women’s participation rate is low, at 29 percent of the working age population. Men’s participation rates peak to nearly 100 percent when they are around 30-44 years. In
contrast, women’s participation rates never exceed 33 percent, and that too, only for the 45-49 age cohort, when, perhaps widowhood and hardship force women to engage in market work. Even at 14 years of age,
half of the male population participates in the labour market. In contrast, women’s participation rates across age groups show little variation
Figure 5.1
. While 26 percent of girls of 14 years of age are either engaged in or are looking for market-based employment, only 28 percent of women in the 30-34 year cohort are
participating in the labour market. However, unlike men’s participation rates, women’s participation rates
56
vary significantly across residence. Among Kuchi women, participation rates rise to 48 percent, whereas in urban areas, participation rates drop to 21 percent, or a fifth of the working age cohort
Figure 5.2
. Women’s participation appears constrained by a host of factors, including cultural norms, their bearing a
greater burden of responsibility for care-related work, security, difficulties of access and the lack of job opportunities in the local economy Aturupane et al. 2013.
Afghanistan also has an extremely youthful labour force, with slightly more than 50 percent made up of young people between 14 and 29 years of age. Altogether, 70 percent of the labour force or nearly 6 million
of the 8.5 million-strong workforce is less than 40 years of age. Slightly more than one fourth of this youthful workforce is made up of women
Table 5.2
and
Figure 5.1
.
Figure 5.1: Labour force participation, by sex, and by age in percentages
Figure 5.2: Labour force participation, by sex, and by residence in percentages
a
a
Numbers in parentheses denote the shares of total in each category. 10
20 30
40 50
60 70
80 90
100
14 1
5 -1
9 2
-2 4
3 -3
4 3
5 -3
9 4
-4 4
4 5
-4 9
5 -5
4 5
5 -5
9 6
-6 4
6 5
-6 9
7 -7
4 7
5 -7
9 8
+ P
er ce
n tag
e
Age Men
Women Both sexes
75 83
89 81
21 31
48 29
48 57
70 55
20 40
60 80
100
Urban Rural
Kuchi National
P er
ce n
tag e
Men 74 Women 26
Both sexes 100
57
Table 5.2: Labour force, by sex, and by age
Age In thousands
In percentages Both sexes
Men Women
Both sexes Men
Women Total
8,515.5 6,322.6
2,192.9 100.0
100.0 100.0
14-19 1,743.5
1,205.8 537.7
20.5 19.1
24.5 20-29
2,608.8 1,928.9
679.8 30.6
30.5 31.0
30-39 1,613.0
1,228.2 384.8
18.9 19.4
17.5 40-49
1,251.2 930.5
320.7 14.7
14.7 14.6
50-59 818.5
621.8 196.7
9.6 9.8
9.0 60-69
361.5 306.9
54.6 4.2
4.9 2.5
70-79 100.9
85.6 15.3
1.2 1.4
0.7 80-89
15.2 12.6
2.5 0.2
0.2 0.1
90+ 2.9
2.3 0.6
0.0 0.0
0.0
Figure 5.3: Labour force, by age, and by sex
a
a
Numbers in parentheses denote the shares of total in each category.
5.3 Employment, underemployment and unemployment
