Although labor-force concepts were originally designed to study economic activity and guide government policies, economic activities are a form of social behavior with numerous social determinants and consequences. Hence labor-force behavior has been the subject of a substantial body of sociological research.

Measurement

The U.S. Bureau of the Census developed the labor-force concept to measure the number of working-age people who were economically active during a particular time period—the calendar week preceding the sample interview (Cain 1979; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1982). It has two components: (1) The employed: those who, during the reference week, did any work at all as paid employees, were self-employed, or worked as unpaid family workers at least fifteen hours in a family-operated enterprise; included also are those who were employed but on vacation, home sick, etc. (2) The unemployed: those who were not employed during the reference week but who...