Dear Jomard,

discouraged labor force is much worst than unemployed (active in job search). The moment a person gets lost her/his hope of getting a job, naturally it is more likely to join into socially unacceptable activities.

prof. Gebregziabher, you are quite right.

Paul: Discouraged worker is part of unemployment. A discouraged worker has just stopped looking for work. Government programs should encourage (i.e. force) these people to get a job. Unemployment benefits should have a time limit.

When the benefits stop, then the discouraged worker will have an incentive to find a job.

Government programs of encouraging (forcing !) may not unfortunately be a valid solution, for there are many structural problems related to the labour market functioning as well as to training and skills, let alone the general governance problems. Besides, in the majority of poor developing countries there are no "unemployment benefits" !

Paul: In the Advnced coutries, my answer holds true. Government programs do encourage more unemploymet. Time limits on benefits is one good solution.

If your question was meant to address only poor undeveloped countries, then you should have worded it that way, my friend.

Many poor people in undeveloped nations are immigrating to Advanced nations. (Legally and illgally)

Also, don't ask questions if you don't want answers. You may not like the answers you get but don't attack the people who are trying to help you.

Maybe you want to aswer your own question?

Female work force comes first on the world list of discouraged labour.

It is shown in economics indices (OECD) that female employment, with parity in all sectors and at each hierarchical levels offers huge leverages for economic growth and sustainability, welfare and societal well being.

Female work force comes first on the world list of discouraged labour.

It is shown in economics indices (OECD) that female employment, with parity in all sectors and at each hierarchical levels offers huge leverages for economic growth and sustainability, welfare and societal well being.

Professor Renaud Di Francesco. In developing countries, females are clearly discriminated against, and discouragement rate is quite high among them. Labor market regulations reform with suitable general social education and proper training courses and enhancement for females, might be an essential part of a solution.

Here is another contingent case of discouraged labour :

In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service, the universal health care organisation serving everyone, relies heavily on foreign qualified doctors and nurses, because the country does not train enough skilled personnel (high cost of studies, etc). They used to ENCOURAGE trained doctors and nurses coming from continental Europe in particular to come and work in the UK.

Since studies are subsidised so much more in continental Europe, salaries do not have to be as high there. Hence skilled staff "trained at someone else's cost" (cost born by the country of origin) would willingly come, being attracted by higher salaries.

Now, the situation is totally OPPOSITE, with political messages of closing borders, national priority, unfriendly speeches against foreigners, and the Pandora box of Brexit in search of an undefined identity however detrimental to foreigners.

Transparently published statistics of employment at the health organisation mentioned NHS shows drops in staff, positions not covered, missing staff everywhere with very negative consequences for patients and health.

This qualifies as DISCOURAGED LABOUR, from a UK perspective

Now, the overall economic assessment is not that negative: qualified medical staff who benefitted from subsidised education (tax payers money, well invested in my view) works in the country where they got their training. From the taxpayer's perspective in continental Europe it is sound.

Thank you Professor Renaud Di Francesco, great answer and very useful details.

Prof. Dr. Atheel Jomard, (2000). Has write a book in Title: " DISCOURAGEMENT VARIABLE AND THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATE OF THE POPULATION IN JORDAN".

As a result of the economic depression, the rate of job creation and the probability of obtaining a job by an unemployed individual have both declined. As an outcome to that, many unemployed individuals became "discouraged", stopped their job search activity, and thus automatically (by definition) left the labor force and joined the economically inactive group, at a time when the economic activity rate of the population was already among the lowest in the less developed countries.

The analysis in this study revealed a number of important results, one of these is : The study revealed that discouraged individuals were not homogeneous in their marginal attachment to the labor force. The analysis identified two groups of such individual: the discouraged – aware and the discouraged – apathetic. Those who were left of the economically inactive individuals, after excluding the discouraged individuals, were termed as withdrawn individuals (Jomard, 2000: pp 2-3).

Since discouraged workers are not actively searching for a job, they are considered nonparticipants in the labor market—that is, they are neither counted as unemployed nor included in the labor force. ... As a result, the U-4 rate is always higher than the official unemployment rate.