Engagement in employment and education looks at the level of participation by age and sex of the population in the labour market, or full or part-time education. A full time employed or full-time student would be "Fully engaged", while part-time students may be fully engaged if they are also employed, or partly engaged if they are not working. Engagement in the labour and education market is highly dependent on age. Retirees are generally disengaged, while stay-at-home parents are also likely to be disengaged. The rate of engagement, particularly in the younger and working age groups can be affected by access to strong employment and education markets and is a measure of socio-economic status and the level of welfare dependency in an area. For more detail on employment and educational characteristics associated with disengagement, please look at Employment Status, Qualifications and Educational Institution Attending.

Further reading: Using demographics to inform gender equality