We also witness different responses internationally within the labour force. For example, within the rich Group of Seven economies, the USA has the lowest share of ‘prime age’ males aged between 25 and 54 in work (Economist, 2011e). The proportion has fallen from 95 per cent in the 1960s to 80 per cent today. The figure is still 96 per cent in Japan and 94 per cent in France. The main reason for the falls in economic participation in the USA, the UK and Canada are structural
changes that have reduced demand for less-skilled workers. US university graduation rates have slipped in recent years from near the top of the world league table to the middle