THE Government is being nudged to introduce incentives to prod thousands of Jamaicans currently outside the labour force — because they are caregivers of children or older relatives — back on the job.

The local think tank, Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI), says of the 411,000 individuals aged 18 to 70 outside the labour force: The greatest potential for additions to the country’s pool of workers would be from those individuals who are currently not working due to care responsibilities.

“Of those who were outside the labour force for a non-constructive reason, nearly one in 10, some 15,000 persons, wanted to work and would have taken a job if offered, but for having care responsibilities. That number represents 70 per cent of all those who wanted to work but would not be able to for whatever reason. Ninety-six per cent of these are women,” CAPRI said in its findings.

According to the think tank, although this is only one per cent of the employed labour force, if they were to be employed, Jamaica could potentially see a two per cent increase in gross domestic product (GDP). It said addressing these care responsibilities through targeted policies could enable a portion of this group to join the labour force.

“The share of persons outside the labour force who have care responsibilities suggests that addressing this constraint may allow some to re-enter the labour force. It is an opportunity to consider policies that can facilitate that,” CAPRI said last week while presenting the results of its latest study, which was funded by the HEART/NSTA Trust.

“For those unable to work due to care responsibilities, the State should subsidise the cost by issuing vouchers to working and job-seeking parents for use at registered and regulated day care and nursing care facilities,” added CAPRI.

It argued that the vouchers could be issued through the Steps to Work Programme, which could be redeemed at approved and registered care providers.

The Steps to Work programme, operated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, provides interventions aimed at facilitating a structured system for assisting working-age members of poor families to seek and retain employment.

“In examining the profile and situation of those classified as ‘outside the labour force’, the only quantitatively meaningful group identified as potential re-entrants into the labour force are those who say they want a job but are restrained by care obligations,” said CAPRI.

In providing further details on the group, CAPRI said approximately three out of every five individuals outside the labour force due to care responsibilities reside in rural areas.

It also detailed four main constraints faced by that group in contemplating employment, namely lack of trust in others to care for their children; cost of care giving; difficulty in finding a suitable caregiver, particularly for elderly dependants; and lack of job/workplace flexibility, including the availability of part-time jobs that would allow caregivers to balance work-home responsibilities.

According to the CAPRI data, only 14 per cent of the women who cited pregnancy as a reason they were outside the labour force had planned to join the labour force within the next 12 months.

“That is to say that 86 per cent of these women did not plan to join the labour force for some time after giving birth and this too could be as a result of the absence of care options. If this group of women is included, it could mean that the true proportion of persons who many have wanted to work but could not because of care responsibilities could be closer to 81 per cent,” CAPRI noted.

It said focus group participants, especially those who were caregivers and in the over 30 age group, stated that they were willing to work four to five hours each day and wanted jobs with flexible work times.

Additionally, it said, respondents who had children stated that the flexibility was not just with respect to the number of hours, but also in relation to needing time on short notice, especially if a child was ill or the school called them in for a meeting.

CAPRI pointed out that there are people who are in the group of caregivers who have work experience, training, and/or qualifications, with one-third having received some form of training, two-fifths having some qualifications, and four-fifths had previously been in the work force.

According to CAPRI, of those previously in the work force who are now classified as caregivers, two-thirds have a medium skill level.

“This is a higher proportion, by five per cent, than the general outside-the-labour-force population,” the think tank said.

In its October 2023 Labour Force Survey, released in January, the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) reported that here were 1,320,400 employed individuals in Jamaica, 85,600 more relative to October 2021 which was used as the base data because a similar survey was not done in 2022.

The Statin survey found that Jamaica’s unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent in October 2023, 2.9 percentage points lower than the similar quarter of 2021.

But outside the labour force there were 669,400 individuals, with a higher number of females (399,200) than males (270,200). Of these, 34,100 (5.1 per cent) were part of the potential labour force.

The potential labour force refers to people looking for a job but not available (including caregivers) or those available but not looking for a job.