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Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2023

Education Level and Labour Force

Online ISSN: 2811-6054

CSO statistical publication, 13 December 2023, 11am

Employment rates increase with education level

This chapter looks at the interaction between education level and the labour force. It will be seen that generally employment participation increases with level of education and that both males and females have higher participation in the labour force the higher their education level, with early school leavers having the worst employment rate.

Key findings for relationship between educational attainment and employment rates for those aged 25-64 in Q2 2023:

Employment rates increased as level of educational attainment increased, with this relationship evident in both sexes.
Over eight in ten (85%) females aged 25-64 years old with a third level qualification were employed, compared to three in ten (30%) females with a primary education only or no formal education.
Males aged 25-64 years old with a third level qualification had an employment rate of 92%, dropping to 49% for those with a primary education only or no formal education. See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1.

	Male	Female	Total
Primary or below	49	30	41
Lower secondary	73	50	64
Higher secondary	83	66	75
Post leaving cert.	89	71	80
Third level	92	85	88

Table 2.1 Employment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023

Unemployment rates decrease with education level

Females with a third level education had an unemployment rate of 2% compared to 5% of females that attained a higher secondary level education only.
For men, 5% of those with a higher secondary level education only were unemployed, compared to 2% with a third level education. See Figure 2.2 and Table 2.2.

	Male	Female	Total
Primary or below	9	7	8
Lower secondary	5	3	4
Higher secondary	5	5	5
Post leaving cert.	3	4	3
Third level	2	2	2

Table 2.2 Unemployment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023

Labour force participation rate

Females aged 25-64 years old with a third level qualification were almost three times as likely to be in the labour force (87%) compared to females with a primary education or below (32%).
Over nine in ten males (94%) with a third level qualification were in the labour force compared to just over half (54%) of males with a primary or no formal education. See Table 2.3.

Table 2.3 Labour force participation rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and the highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023

Early School Leavers – low number of early school leavers continues

Key findings for early school leavers aged 18-24:

In Q2 2023, only 4% of those aged 18-24 were defined as early school leavers (Early school leavers are persons aged 18 to 24 whose highest level of educational attainment is lower secondary or below and are not currently in education), a decrease from 13% in Q2 2006.
Females aged 18-24 years old were less likely than males to be classified as early school leavers (3% versus 4% respectively). See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.4.

	Male	Female	Total
2006	17	9	13
2007	15	8	12
2008	15	7	11
2009	15	7	11
2010	14	9	12
2011	13	8	11
2012	12	8	10
2013	11	6	8
2014	8	5	6
2015	8	5	6
2016	7	4	6
2017	7	4	5
2018	6	3	5
2019	6	4	5
2020	6	5	6
2021	4	2	3
2022	5	3	4
2023	4	3	4

Table 2.4 Early school leavers as a percentage of persons aged 18-24, classified by sex, Q2 2006 - Q2 2023

Early school leaver and the labour force

Key findings for labour participation of early school leavers:

Early school leavers had a lower rate of employment in Q2 2023 compared with other persons aged 18-24 (44% compared to 63%).
Just under half (49%) of early school leavers aged 18-24 were not economically active compared to under a third (29%) of other persons aged 18-24.
44% of early school leavers were employed in Q2 2023. See Table 2.5.

Table 2.5 Percentage of early school leavers and other persons aged 18-24 classified by labour market status, Q2 2012 - Q2 2023

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Table 2.1 Employment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023¹
% of persons
Highest level of education attained	NFQ²	2020	2021	2022	2023
Male employment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	42	38	52	49
Lower Secondary	3	67	69	72	73
Higher Secondary	4/5	76	77	83	83
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	81	84	87	89
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	86	90	92	92
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	71	86	90	90
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	80	88	91	91
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	88	90	92	91
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	89	93	94	94
Total male employment rate		79	82	86	86

Female employment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	23	24	24	30
Lower Secondary	3	39	41	45	50
Higher Secondary	4/5	51	60	62	66
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	56	69	70	71
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	77	81	84	85
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	62	65	76	72
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	71	75	78	81
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	77	82	85	86
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	84	85	89	89
Total female employment rate		64	71	73	76

All persons employment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	34	32	39	41
Lower Secondary	3	55	58	61	64
Higher Secondary	4/5	64	69	73	75
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	68	76	79	80
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	81	85	88	88
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	66	72	82	79
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	76	81	84	85
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	82	86	88	88
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	86	88	91	91
Total persons employment rate		71	76	80	81
¹Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.
² National Framework of Qualifications.

Table 2.2 Unemployment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023¹
% of persons
Highest level of education attained	NFQ²	2020	2021	2022	2023
Male unemployment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	10	10	8	9
Lower Secondary	3	5	8	5	5
Higher Secondary	4/5	5	7	3	5
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	5	7	4	3
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	4	4	3	2
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	3	9	3	5
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	6	5	3	2
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	3	4	3	3
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	3	3	2	2
Total male unemployment rate		4	6	3	3

Female unemployment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	7	12	22	7
Lower Secondary	3	2	9	6	3
Higher Secondary	4/5	6	7	5	5
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	7	6	5	4
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	3	4	2	2
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	4	8	3	3
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	3	5	4	2
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	2	3	2	3
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	3	5	2	2
Total female unemployment rate		4	5	4	3

All persons unemployment rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	9	11	12	8
Lower Secondary	3	4	9	5	4
Higher Secondary	4/5	5	7	4	5
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	6	7	4	3
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	3	4	3	2
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	4	8	3	4
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	4	5	3	2
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	2	3	2	3
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	3	4	2	2
Total unemployment rate		4	5	3	3
¹Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.
² National Framework of Qualifications.

Table 2.3 Labour force participation rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and the highest level of education attained, Q2 2020 - Q2 2023¹
% of persons
Highest level of education attained	NFQ²	2020	2021	2022	2023
Male participation rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	47	42	57	54
Lower Secondary	3	71	75	76	77
Higher Secondary	4/5	80	83	86	88
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	85	90	91	92
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	90	94	95	94
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	74	94	92	95
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	85	93	94	92
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	91	93	94	94
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	93	96	97	96
Total male participation rate		83	87	89	89

Female participation rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	24	28	31	32
Lower Secondary	3	40	45	48	51
Higher Secondary	4/5	54	65	65	70
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	60	73	74	74
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	79	84	87	87
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	64	70	79	74
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	73	80	81	82
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	79	85	87	89
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	86	89	91	90
Total female participation rate		66	74	76	78

All persons participation rate
Primary or below	None/1/2	38	36	45	45
Lower Secondary	3	58	64	64	67
Higher Secondary	4/5	67	74	76	79
Post Leaving Certificate	4/5/6	72	82	82	82
Third Level, of which:	6/7/8/9/10	84	89	90	90
Higher Certificate or equivalent	6	68	79	85	82
Ordinary Degree or equivalent	7	79	85	87	87
Honours bachelor degree or equivalent	8	84	89	90	91
Postgraduate qualification	9/10	89	92	94	93
Total participation rate		74	81	82	83
¹Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.
² National Framework of Qualifications.

Table 2.5 Percentage of early school leavers¹ and other persons aged 18-24 classified by labour market status, Q2 2012 - Q2 2023²
% of persons
	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Early school leaver
Employed	30	35	31	29	43	34	28	27	21	21	48	44
Unemployed	43	39	33	40	23	23	18	25	12	15	21	7
In labour force	74	74	64	69	66	57	46	53	32	36	68	51
Inactive	26	26	36	31	34	43	54	47	68	64	32	49

Other persons aged 18-24
Employed	48	50	49	52	57	56	56	56	43	54	63	63
Unemployed	20	18	15	12	12	9	9	8	8	12	6	8
In labour force	68	68	64	64	69	65	65	64	51	65	69	71
Inactive	32	32	36	36	31	35	35	36	49	35	31	29

All persons aged 18-24
Employed	46	49	48	51	56	55	55	54	42	53	62	62
Unemployed	22	19	16	13	12	10	9	9	8	12	7	8
In labour force	68	68	64	64	69	65	64	64	50	65	69	70
Inactive	32	32	36	36	31	35	36	36	50	35	31	30
¹ See background notes for definition of an early school leaver and labour market (ILO employment) status.
²Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.

Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2023

Education Level and Labour Force

Education Level and Labour Force

Employment rates increase with education level

Unemployment rates decrease with education level

Labour force participation rate

Early School Leavers – low number of early school leavers continues

Early school leaver and the labour force

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Table 2.4 Early school leavers¹ as a percentage of persons aged 18-24, classified by sex, Q2 2006 - Q2 2023²
% of persons
	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Male	17	15	15	15	14	13	12	11	8	8	7	7	6	6	6	4	5	4
Female	9	8	7	7	9	8	8	6	5	5	4	4	3	4	5	2	3	3
Total	13	12	11	11	12	11	10	8	6	6	6	5	5	5	6	3	4	4
¹ See background notes for definition of an early school leaver.
²Care should be taken when comparing year to year changes due to small cell sizes in certain subgroups.