The two pie charts illustrate the distribution of employment status for men and women in the UK workforce across two distinct years: 1988 and 2012. The figures are provided in both percentages and absolute numbers (in thousands), alongside the total number of employed individuals.
Overall, the total number of people employed saw a considerable rise over the period. The most striking feature is the substantial proportional decrease in full-time male employment, despite it remaining the largest single category, while full-time female employment registered the most significant proportional growth.
In 1988, total employment stood at 23,839 thousand, which increased by approximately 5.76 million to 29,600 thousand by 2012. Focusing on men, the proportion of those working full-time fell from a clear majority of 53% in 1988 to 47% in 2012. Despite this proportional decline, the actual number of full-time male workers increased from 12.539 million to 13.794 million. Part-time male workers, the smallest group, saw a slight proportional rise from 6% to 7% over the 24-year period.
The most dramatic shift was evident in full-time female employment, which grew substantially from 19% of the workforce in 1988 to 26% by 2012. This accounted for an absolute increase from 4.482 million to 7.696 million. Conversely, while the number of part-time female employees grew from 5.268 million to 5.979 million, their proportion of the total workforce experienced a marginal drop from 22% to 20%