Population Outside the Labour Force, Its Causes and Potential: A Review from An Islamic Perspective
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The population outside the labour force refers to individuals who are not classified as employed or unemployed. The Department of Statistics Malaysia have classified individuals who are not interested in jobs into six main reasons: (1) attending school or training programmes, (2) homeworking or family responsibilities, (3) pursuing further studies, (4) disability, (5) disinterest, and (6) retirement. Based on the data, there is no specific trend to the population outside the labour force in Malaysia. However, there are concerns about the lack of information on the population outside the labour force in Malaysia which may result in them being discounted from the labour force. On the flip side, technological advancement, working arrangement, and new “non-standard” employment are part of the factors that may have influenced this population to remain outside of the labour force. This paper highlights the importance of revisiting the meaning of employment, especially in the new way of working arrangements so that policymakers are able to assemble accurate labour market information in making strategic moves in accordance with the needs and demands of every sector. In addition, this paper also explores the Islamic view of the trend in the wider context, going beyond the terms of wage and profit.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Azid, Toseef. “The Labor Market in an Islamic Setting: Review and Prospects.” in Labor in an Islamic Setting: Theory and Practice, 6–26. London: Routledge, 2017.
Boileau, Bee, and Jonathan Cribb. The Rise in Economic Inactivity among People in Their 50s and 60s. London: The Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2022.
Cuffe, Robert, and Nicholas Barrett. “Unemployment: Who are the millions of Britons not working?” BBC. 15 March. Accessed September 14, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52660591.
Department of Statistics Malaysia. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2015. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2016.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2016. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2017.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2017. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2018. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2019.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2019. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2020.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2020. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021.
_____. Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia 2021. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2022.
_____. “Glosari: Informal Sector.” Department of Statistics Malaysia. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cglossary2&menu_id=eWd2VFdIZ2xpdzBmT2Y0a0pweDcwQT09&keyword=dm9ZNmNpZlBwM2ZMQkZvRFV5M0ZvQT09&release=1.
_____. “Informal Sector and Informal Employment Survey
Report, Malaysia, 2021.” Department of Statistics Malaysia. Accessed April 4, 2023. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=158&bul_id=NUhQNy9Eb1YxYkxxMVhFU0tIb0dQdz09&menu_id=Tm8zcnRjdVRNWWlpWjRlbmtlaDk1UT09.
_____. “Number of Pupils at Upper Secondary Level in Government & Government-Aided Schools by State and Sex, Malaysia, 2019-2021.” In Children Statistics, 2022. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2022.
_____. “Population Statistics.” Department of Statistics Malaysia. 30
August. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://www.dosm.gov.my/admin/images/icon/contentdoc_pdf_20220924210527.pdf.
_____. “Table 1: Principal Statistics of Labour Force, Malaysia,
–2021.” Department of Statistics Malaysia. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/3_Time%20Series/LFS_1982-2021/01-TABLE-1.pdf.
_____. Current Population Estimates, 2022. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2022.
Fatimah Abdullah. “Analisis Sosial Tentang Zina Berdasarkan Data Kajian Mengenai Kehamilan Luar Nikah di PPUKM.” in Menangani Zina dan Pembuangan Bayi, 3–41. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit IKIM, 2012.
Gammarano, Rosina. “Persons outside the labour force: How inactive are they really?” ILOSTAT. 7 August. Accessed October 5, 2023. https://ilostat.ilo.org/persons-outsidethe-labour-force-how-inactive-are-they-really/.
Gammarano, Rosina. “Work and Employment Are Not Synonyms.” ILOSTAT. 29 October. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://ilostat.ilo.org/work-and-employment-are-not-synonyms/.
The Government of the United Kingdom. “Economic inactivity - Ethnicity facts and figures.” Gov.UK. 3 November, 2022. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-payand- benefits/unemployment-and-economic-inactivity/economic-inactivity/latest.
ILOSTAT. “Persons outside the labour force: How inactive are they really? Delving into the potential labour force with ILO harmonized estimates.” International Labour Organisation. 1 August, 2019. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/publications/WCMS_714359/lang--en/index.htm.
International Labour Organisation. “Report II - Statistics of
work, employment and labour underutilization - 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, Geneva, 2–11 October 2013.” International Labour Organisation. 30 August. Accessed September 5, 2023. https://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and- databases/publications/WCMS_220535/lang--en/index.htm.
Khadijah Alavi, Nasrudin Subhi, Mohd Suhaimi Mohamad, Fauziah Ibrahim, Norulhuda Sarnon, and Salina Nen. “Peranan Kesejahteraan Keluarga dan Daya Tahan dalam Pengukuhan Keluarga Sandwich.” Akademika 85 (1), 2015: 25–32.
Al-Khallāl. al-Ḥathth ʿalā al-Tijārah (Seruan untuk Bekerja). Translated by Amru Khalid Sazali. Kuala Lumpur: Kafilah Buku & Halaqah Muamalah, 2021.
Khazanah Research Institute. 2018. The School-to-Work Transition of Young Malaysians: The Key Takeaways, Policy Implications and Overview of the School-to-Work Transition Survey Results. Kuala Lumpur: Khazanah Research Institute.
Krueger, Alan B. “Where Have All the Workers Gone? An Inquiry into the Decline of the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate.” Brookings Pap Econ Act. 2017 (2): 1–87.
M., Vijaya Kumar, and Balu B. “Estimating the Impact of Human Capital Underutilization on the Productivity and Economic Growth in India.” Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2023.
Manpower Research and Statistics Department of Singapore. “Labour Force in Singapore Advance Release 2022.”
Manpower Research and Statistics Department of Singapore. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://stats.mom.gov.sg/Pages/homepage.aspx. Ministry of Finance Malaysia. “Budget 2023 Speech.” Ministry of Finance Malaysia, 2023.
Mohd Ali Khan, Nur Layali, Ahmad Thawrique Mohd Taufan, Nurfarahin Harun, and Mohd Ikhwan Abdullah. “Sisi Lain Pasaran Buruh: Luar Tenaga Buruh dan Potensinya.” In Sorotan Pasaran Buruh Suku Pertama 2021. Putrajaya: Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia, 2021.
Nurfarahin Harun, and Muhammad Shafiq Harun.. “Supplementary Measures of Labour Underutilisation.” In Labour Market Review, Malaysia Second Quarter 2020. Putrajaya: Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2020
Osea, Solveig Osborg, and Chris Jensen. “Youth outside the labour force — Perceived Barriers by Service Providers and Service Users: A Mixed Method Approach.” Children and Youth Services Review 81, 2017: 148–156.
Al-Sarakhsī. Sharḥ Kitāb al-Kasb li al-Shaybānī (Adab Menyara Hidup). Translated by Amru Khalid Sazali. Kuala Lumpur: Kafilah Buku & Halaqah Muamalah, 2022.
Al-Shaybānī. The Book of Earning a Livelihood (Kitāb al-Kasb). Translated by Adi Setia. Kuala Lumpur: IBFIM, 2011.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Persons Not in the Labor Force by Desire and Availability for Work, Age, and Sex.” The US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea38.htm.