The main influences on this trend have been the ageing population, increased participation of older workers, and increased participation of women (figure 3). Figure 3: Contributions to change in labour force participation since 20019  As in many advanced economies, our population is ageing.
Because older cohorts, and particularly those past retirement age, have a lower participation rate than the rest of the working-age population, an increase in the proportion of older cohorts, all else equal, decreases the aggregate participation rate.