Band 6+: The bar chart shows the proportion of men and women aged 60-64 employed in four different countries in 1997 and 2000. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart illustrates how the percentage of men and women aging 60-64 in employment varied across four different countries between 1997 and 2000.

Overall, the proportion of male labor force was higher than that of female labor force. Significantly, both male and female Japanese employees are the highest proportion in four countries during the given period. In contrast, women working in Belgium showed the lowest percentage between 1997 and 2000.

As for men, the proportion of Japanese workers was dominant with 85% in 1997, then decreasing slightly by 9% in 2000. The second place in 1997 was employees in Belgium, accounting for 79%. After that, Belgium experienced a considerable drop to 19%, which placed it at the final rank in 2000. Moreover, the percentage of Australia in 1997 was at 76%, followed by that of the USA declining with 55% after 3 years, while Australia witnessed a large decrease with 55% in the same period.

Regarding women, employees in Japan and Belgium showed the decrease in 3 years. Japan started with the highest rank at 43%, declining slightly by 3% in 2000, while Belgium experienced a slight decrease during this period, from 8% to 7%. In contrast, the proportion of the Australian and American workforce increased slightly by 2% and 3%, starting with 16% and 36%, respectively.