Worker to Population Ratio (WPR) is defined as
- (1)Percentage of employed persons in labour force
- (2)Percentage of employed persons in working age population
- (3)Percentage of employed persons in total population
- (4)Percentage of working age population in total population
Answer
Why
Correct — option (3), Percentage of employed persons in total population.
India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Sample Survey Office, defines the Worker Population Ratio as the percentage of employed persons in the population. That is option (3), Percentage of employed persons in total population.
The numerator is people who are employed. The denominator is the population itself — not the labour force, and not a working-age subset written into the definition.
PLFS reports the ratio for stated groups, such as persons aged 15 years and above. The population of that group then becomes the base, but the definition does not change.
For July 2023–June 2024, PLFS put WPR in usual status at 58.2% for persons aged 15 and above.
The idea to remember: WPR and LFPR divide by population; the unemployment rate divides by the labour force.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Percentage of employed persons in labour force — This uses the labour force as the base. Since the labour force is the employed plus the unemployed, this share is simply 100 minus the unemployment rate.
The labour force is the base of a different PLFS indicator: the Unemployment Rate, defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
- (2)Percentage of employed persons in working age population — The PLFS definition names the population, with no age limit. An age group enters only when a figure is reported for one, as in "persons of age 15 years and above".
This option writes the age limit into the definition itself. It describes WPR as reported for a working-age group, not the definition of WPR.
- (4)Percentage of working age population in total population — This has no employment in it at all. It measures the age structure of a population: how many people are of working age, whether or not they work.
That share is the idea behind a demographic dividend, a large working-age population relative to dependants — not a measure of who is employed.
Concept
Three ratios are among the PLFS's key labour-market indicators.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): persons in the labour force — working, or seeking or available for work — as a percentage of the population.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR): employed persons as a percentage of the population.
Unemployment Rate (UR): unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force.
The three are linked. The labour force is the employed plus the unemployed, so WPR = LFPR × (1 − UR/100). With 2023-24 figures: 60.1 × 0.968 ≈ 58.2.
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Poverty and Unemployment: - Concept, Types, Causes, Remedies and Current Flagship Schemes" under Human Resource and Economic Development. Labour-market ratios are the concept side of that line.
PLFS measures activity in two reference frames. Usual status (ps+ss) looks back 365 days; Current Weekly Status (CWS) looks back 7 days. A value is meaningful only with its status, age group and period.
For July 2023–June 2024, PLFS reported in usual status for persons aged 15 and above: LFPR 60.1%, WPR 58.2% and UR 3.2%.
Key facts
- PLFS defines the Worker Population Ratio as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
- PLFS defines LFPR as the percentage of persons in the labour force (working, or seeking or available for work) in the population.
- PLFS defines the Unemployment Rate as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
- PLFS 2023-24 (July 2023–June 2024), usual status, age 15 and above: LFPR 60.1%, WPR 58.2%, UR 3.2%.
- Female WPR (age 15 and above, usual status) rose from 35.9% in 2022-23 to 40.3% in 2023-24.
Definitions from the PLFS Annual Report 2023-24 press note (MoSPI).
Study next
Common traps
- Of these three PLFS ratios, only the unemployment rate uses the labour force as its base. Employed divided by labour force is 100 minus the unemployment rate, not WPR.
- An age group in a headline figure ("15 years and above") is a reporting choice, not part of the definition. Keep the definition's base (population) apart from the group it is applied to.
- Usual status (365-day reference) and Current Weekly Status (7-day reference) give different values for the same ratio. Compare figures only within the same status.
A definition question can offer near-identical wordings that differ only in the numerator or the denominator.
A numeric version can quote PLFS values of LFPR, WPR and UR and ask which is which, or ask for one ratio from the other two.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS compared this question with questions from other RAS Prelims papers and found none similar enough to link.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the Unemployment Rate is defined as the percentage of –
- (a)unemployed persons in the population
- (b)unemployed persons among the persons in the labour force
- (c)unemployed persons in the working age population
- (d)persons not in the labour force in the population
Answer(2) — PLFS takes the labour force as the base for the unemployment rate. Option (1) divides by the whole population, option (3) by a working-age group, and option (4) counts people outside the labour force, which is not unemployment. - practice — not a real PYQ
If the Labour Force Participation Rate of a population is 60% and its Unemployment Rate is 5%, its Worker Population Ratio is –
- (a)55%
- (b)57%
- (c)63%
- (d)65%
Answer(2) — Employed share of labour force = 100 − 5 = 95%. WPR = 60 × 0.95 = 57%. Option (1) subtracts 5 percentage points instead of 5% of the labour force. Option (3) multiplies by 1.05 and option (4) adds 5; both wrongly raise the ratio.