11EC Chapter 22 23 Labour Market Booklet

Derived demand i.e. the demand for labour comes from the demand for the goods and services

In some industries, people can be replaced by machines

If every worker is able to produce more output, demand for workers is likely to increase because production become more profitable

For example, national insurance contributions, sick pay, maternity pay

As the population grows, more people will be available to work

Many countries welcome immigrants to help increase the working population

In most developed countries in the world, there is an aging population. This means the dependency ratio (the proportion of dependents (non-workers) to workers in the population) is rising

In some countries, the retirement age is rising. This means people have to work for longer before they are entitled to a state pension

Any change to the school leaving age can affect the number of people in the population who are available to work

Over the past 50 years, an increasing number of women have decided to work due to fairer treatment stemming from changes in society

People can become more employable if they have better skills and qualifications

The amount of money paid to workers for their services over a period of time (the price of labour)

This is the process of figuring out how much workers should be paid through negotiations with trade unions, skills, supply, demand, government rules