Transcript A multidimensional approach in the measurement of underemployment Giorgina Brown, Federica Pintaldi (ISTAT, Rome)

A multidimensional approach
in the measurement of
underemployment
Giorgina Brown, Federica Pintaldi
(ISTAT, Rome)
Time-related underemployment
• core indicator within decent work framework:
– employment opportunities
– adequate earnings and productive work
– decent hours
• within labour force framework, indicator of
underutilization of labour resources (similar and
complementary to unemployment)
Time-related underemployment
• one of the 20 Key Indicators of the Labour
Market (ILO)
• two rates are presented:
– number of persons in time-related underemployment
1.as a percentage of the labour force
2.as a percentage of total employment
Definition
• “insufficient hours of work in relation to an
alternative employment situation that a person is
willing and available to engage in” (16th ICLS,
1998)
• Operationally, it identifies employed persons
who in the reference period:
– were willing to work additional hours
– were available to work additional hours
– had worked less than a threshold relating to working
time
Determining persons in time-related underemployment
Employed population
22.404
same hours
19.753
additional hours
1.344
yes,
available
1.050
less hours
1.307
not
available
295
•
Includes:
– persons not immediately available because of the notice
needed to change job
•
Excludes:
– persons who have worked less than usual because of illness,
strike, compulsory maternity leave, or study not organized
within one’s job
Italian LFS, 2004 (‘000s)
Determining persons in time-related underemployment
Employed population
22.404
same hours
19.753
additional hours
1.344
yes,
available
1.050
less hours
1.307
not
available
295
Defining a threshold:
– Legal or empirical
– Usual or actual
– Statistic used
Italian LFS, 2004 (‘000s)
For defining a threshold: mean hours worked
Quarter
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
Year
2004
actual with absent
38
40
34
38
37
Seasonal factors
actual without absent
40
41
41
40
41
Excludes some employed
usual
40
41
41
40
41
Framework
mixed all absent
41
42
42
41
42
Variable used
Different dimensions
mixed some reasons
41
41
41
41
41
the median has always the same value: 40 hours
Time-related underemployed by threshold and variable (‘000s)
1,100
1,000
900
800
40
hours
700
600
usual hours
actual hours
mix1 hours
48
no
th r
es
ho
ld
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
500
mix2 hours
Determining persons in time-related underemployment
Employed population
22.404
same hours
19.753
additional hours
1.344
yes,
available
1.050
above
threshold
58
in additional
job
53
less hours
1.307
not
available
295
up to
threshold
992
in different
job
100
within
current job
585
4.4% of employment
4.1% of labour force
does not
specify
253
Distribution of hours worked in the reference week by employed & underemployed
and hours wanted by the underemployed
0
25
50
75
95
10
0
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
100
actual hours full-time employed
actual hours underemployed
actual hours part-time employed
hours wanted by underemployed
Overlap between involuntary part-time and time-related underemployed (‘000s)
Time-related underemployed
yes
no
total
Full-time
541
19.022
19.563
Involuntary part-time
358
656
1.014
Other part-time
93
1.735
1.828
Total
992
21.413
22.404
Only 36% of underemployed are also involuntary part-time
Hours worked is a more stringent and homogenous criterion
considering the variability of working time in different
periods and among occupations
Always or sometimes underemployed?
• 38% of underemployed worked less than
usual in reference week (vs. 17% of employed)
→ lack of work in specific periods.
• majority (58%) of underemployed who worked
less than usual would like to work as usual, 15%
state usual hours are very variable.
• But for majority of underemployed (59%), hours
worked in reference week are as usual.
Always or sometimes underemployed?
men
1,5
women
agriculture
services
Italy
3,5
3,7
2,0
1,8
industry
constructions
2,2
1,8
1,9
3,5
2,5
3,1
1,3
2,7
1,7
Less than usual
As usual
Other forms of underemployment
• “inadequate employment situations that affect
the capacities and well-being of workers” (16th
ICLS, 1998)
• Employed persons who during the reference
period wanted to change their work situation for
set of reasons chosen according to national
circumstances, e.g.
– inadequate use and mismatch of occupational skills
– inadequate income
– excessive hours
»more difficult to measure
»no operational definition
Skill-related underemployment
• Our proposal of operational definition coherent
with time-related underemployment:
– Looking for a new job
(willing)
– Available to start new job
(available)
– Mismatch of occupation and skills (threshold)
• Level of education as proxy for skills →
indications of ISCO 88:
– persons with university-level degree in groups 3 to 9
(Technicians to Elementary occupations)
– persons with upper secondary school diploma in
groups 4 to 9 (Clerks to Elementary occupations).
Determining persons in skill-related underemployment
Employed population
22.404
yes, a
second job
216
yes, a new
job
1.417
yes,
available
1.305
yes
517
no
20.771
not
available
112
no
788
131
to earn more
281
153
more qualifying job
104
233
other reason
433
What would change if we were to use an alternative definition?
1,600
1,417
1,305
1,400
1,200
902
1,000
800
669
621
517
600
400
284
200
looking for job
+available
Mismatch only = 6,495
+available,
mismatch or
reasons (skills,
earnings)
+available,
reasons
+available,
mismatch or
reason (skills)
+available,
mismatch
+available,
mismatch and
reasons
‘000s
Skill-related underemployment
• Of the 517 thousand in skill-related
underemployment (2.3%):
– 413 have upper secondary school diploma
(4.2% of those in employment with a diploma)
– 104 a university-level degree (2.3%).
Combination of time-related and skill-related underemployment (‘000s)
skill-related
underemployment
472
time-related
underemployment
112
Small overlap: different profiles
880
Proportion of underemployed by sex and age
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
ov
er
&
65
45
-6
4
35
-4
4
15
-3
4
om
en
w
m
en
al
l
em
pl
oy
ed
0
time-related
both
skill-related
Proportion of underemployed by type of work
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
all
employed
permanent temporary
selfjob
job
employed
time-related
both
skill-related
full-time
part-time
Proportion of underemployed by occupation group
0
4
2
6
senior officials and managers
professionals
technicians
clerks
service and sales w orkers
agricultural, craft and related w orkers
plant/machine operators and assemblers
elementary occupations
time-related
both
skill-related
8
10
12
14
Other dimensions?
• Income-related underemployment in part associated
with time and skill. But low income possible even
working many hours or for highly qualified occupations.
• To be coherent, we need variable on earned income to
establish threshold of adequate income above which one
cannot be classified as income-related underemployed
– Measurement problems: interviewees often reticent
• To avoid overlap income-related/time-related
dimensions, we could consider hourly income.
• We could distinguish those who would like to work more
hours but only if paid more than their normal hourly rate,
from those who want to work more even at same rate.