Note: This is post #103 in a weekly video series on basic economics.

Labor force participation is an important concept connected to employment. The labor force participation rate is defined as the section of working population in the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment.The formula for the labor force participation rate is therefore rather simple: labor force (unemployed + employed) / adult population, excluding people in the military or prison for both.

The total labor force participation rate has grown significantly in the United States since the 1950s, notes economistAlex Tabarrok. But the total growth doesn’t paint a clear picture of how the U.S. workforce has changed, particularly the makeup.

In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Tabarrok discusses several big factors at play influencing the demographics of labor force participation.

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Clickhereto see other videos in the Introduction to Economics series.