in 2013 the number of female workers in the UK passed 14 million despite a rise in overall unemployment. Of this number, 57% were in full-time employment with 43% in part-time employment. There were thought to be a number of reasons for this, including a rise in the female retirement age, an increase in the tertiary sector, more grandparents looking after the grandchildren during the day and cuts in benefits. CASE QUESTIONS 1 Explain how a rise in employment may occur at the same time as a rise in unemployment. 2 Which of the reasons given for the rise in female employment would have increased the size of the UK's labour force?