1980 HUNGARIAN CENSUS OF POPULATION Summary data (1984)

V. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EMPLOYMENT, CHANGE IN THE COMPOSITION OF ACTIVE EARNERS

In 1900 there were 3 inactive earners per luO active earners, and at the same time 139 dependants needed support. In the past decades the generalization of the pension meant the increase of the number of inactive earners per 100 active earners and the decrease of the dependants. In the past ten years the tendency that characterized the earlier decades went on, there was a further increase in the number of inactive earners per 100 active earners and a further decrease in the number of dependants. So today the active earners have to support directly much less people than earlier. The main indicators of economic activity Year Inactive earners Dependants Inactives and dependants per 100 active earners 1960 9 100 109 1970 28 79 107 1980 43 68 111 The proportion of sexes changed considerably in the socially organized labour in the course of the past eight decades. In 1900 three fourths of the active earners were men and the rest women. The improving social position of women is indicated by the fact, that while in 1900 only one fifth of the women were economically active, now two fifths of them are active. The tendency of the decreasing number of active men that characterized the sixties went on - though at a more moderate pace - in the seventies also, since the reproduction did not cover the losses of pensioners and deaths. At the beginning of 1980 there were 67 thousand less active earner men than earlier, this is half of the decrease of the sixties. So within the male population the proportion of active earners fell gradually, and simultaneously rose the proportion of the inactive earners. In 1980 still only slightly more than 55 percent of the men were active, contrary to the 59 percent proportion in 197 0 and the 64 percent proportion in 1960. In the past two decades the 3 00 thousand rise in the number of active earners was made possible only by the rising employment of women, besides more than 200 thousand earlier male jobs were filled by women. This means that the present number of active earner women is 500 thousand higher than 20 years before, and in 1980 43 percent of the active earners were women while this proportion was 36 percent 20 years before, and 41 percent in 1970. The proportion of the actives shows a growing tendency among women contrary to the tendency for men. The composition of active earners by sex Men Women Active earner men Active earner women Year in percent in percent in percent in percent in 1 000 of all of all active of all of all active men earners women earners 1960 3 069 1 691 63. 9 64. 5 32. 8 35. 5 1970 2 934 2 055 58. 6 58. 8 38. 6 41.2 1980 2 867 2 202 55.3 56. 6 39. 9 43.4 The men in working age (15-59 year old) are full employed since more decades. In this age group the employment level was 87 percent in the past decade, twenty years before this level was 92 percent. There are no effective labour reserves among men, since in the past decades the proportion of non student dependants among the working age men was 1 percent. The number of these was 34 thousand in 1980, almost half these were disabled and a considerable proportion of them were waiting for the start of their studies in higher education. Decades earlier the women meant a considerable labour reserve, but by now they also are almost full employed. In 1960 only half of the working age (15-54 year old) women were active earners, and the proportion of non studying "other dependants" who worked around the household was very high (46 percent). The proportion of the later was still fairly considerable in 1970 (23 percent), but since then there was a considerable decrease. In 1980 320 thousand persons slightly more than one tenth of the 15-54 year old women belonged to this group. This group constitutes the labour reserve theoretically, but many of them can not engage themselves to work because of various reasons, like: family problems, health problems or the lack of suitable job. Another hindrance for these women to engage 92