Education Level and Labour Force
This chapter explores the interaction between achieved 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.
Main findings for the relationship between educational attainment and employment rates for those aged 25 to 64 in Quarter 2 (Q2) 2025:
- Employment rates increased as level of educational attainment increased, with this relationship evident in both sexes. Disparity between male and female employment rates falls as educational attainment increases.
- Over eight in ten (85%) females aged 25 to 64 years old with a third level qualification were employed, compared with six in ten (63%) of females with an upper secondary / PLC or below attainment.
- Males aged 25 to 64 years old with a third level qualification had an employment rate of 92% compared with 80% for those with an upper secondary / PLC or below attainment (See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1).
Table 2.1 Employment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2022 - Q2 2025
- While unemployment rates are generally low across most levels of education for those aged 25 to 64, higher levels of education are associated with lower unemployment rates.
- Those with a third level qualification had an unemployment rate of 3% compared with a rate of 5% for those with a PLC / upper secondary or below (See Figure 2.2 and Table 2.2).
Table 2.2 Unemployment rates of persons aged 25-64, classified by sex and highest level of education attained, Q2 2022 - Q2 2025
- At all levels of education attainment more males were in the labour force than females though the gap between male and female participation narrows as education attainment level increases.
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- Nearly nine in ten females (88%) aged 25 to 64 years old with a third level qualification were in the labour force compared with 66% of females with a upper secondary / PLC or below attainment.
- Over nine in ten males (95%) with a third level qualification were in the labour force compared with over eight in ten males (85%) with a upper secondary / PLC or below attainment (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 2022 - Q2 2025
- In Q2 2025, only 4% of those aged 18 to 24 were defined as early school leavers (Early school leavers are people aged 18 to 24 whose highest level of educational attainment is lower secondary or below and are not currently in education), a decrease from 11% in Q2 2008.
- Females aged 18 to 24 years old were slightly less likely than males to be classified as early school leavers (3% versus 5% respectively) (See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.4).
Table 2.4 Early school leavers as a percentage of persons aged 18-24, classified by sex, Q2 2008 - Q2 2025
Main findings for labour participation of early school leavers:
- Early school leavers had a lower rate of employment in Q2 2025 compared with all people aged 18 to 24 (43% compared with 63%).
- Almost half (47%) of early school leavers aged 18 to 24 were not economically active compared with under a third (30%) of all people aged 18 to 24 (See Table 2.5).
As part of the CSO's commitment to delivering high quality data, a regular review of data processing discovered an error in previous releases from this series. Users can reference the updated time series of the unemployment rate for early-school leavers in Table 2.5 below and in PxStat Table EATR01. Further details can be found in the accompanying Information Note for the affected releases.
Table 2.5 Percentage of early school leavers and other persons aged 18-24 classified by labour market status, Q2 2013 - Q2 2025
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