• Across countries, women’s labor force participation rates varied more than men’s rates. In Canada, the Scandinavian countries, New Zealand, and Australia, women participated in the labor force at about the same high rate as U.S. women. Italian and Mexican women had the lowest participation rates.
• Participation rates for men were at least 70 percent in 12 out of 20 countries; the lowest rates for men were found in Italy and France.

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NOTE: 2005 for the EU-15. 2004 for Singapore.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and International Labor Office.