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The Underemployed: Evidence From the UK Labour Force Survey for a Conditionally Gendered Top-down Model

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  • Surhan Cam

    (Cardiff University)

Abstract

Systematic research into underemployment is limited in Britain and specific analyses of its relation to work-status are largely missing from the academic debate. The present study explores the impact of work-status on underemployment along with references to demographic indicators. We examine Labour Force Survey data through logistic regressions. Our results fit into what one might call a conditionally gendered top-down model: As measured by work-place characteristics, work-contracts and occupational levels, one¡¯s status at work inversely correlates with the likelihood of underemployment. Such a top-down propensity largely reflects a decline in demand for lower skills in the UK since the beginning of the recession in 2008. The model also has a gendered character which helps explain a relatively higher rise in female underemployment amid the economic downturn. However, this character rather takes a conditional form due to opposite gender disparities in different work settings. In female-dominated works including sales, customer services and part-time jobs, for example, women¡¯s underemployment is lower than men¡¯s, but it is higher in elementary occupations, especially because of glass-ceiling.

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  • Surhan Cam, 2014. "The Underemployed: Evidence From the UK Labour Force Survey for a Conditionally Gendered Top-down Model," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 47-65, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:mth:jsss88:v:1:y:2014:i:2:p:47-65
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ayhan GÖRMÜŞ, 2019. "Characteristic of Time-based Underemployment in Turkey: Findings from the Household Labour Force SurveysAbstract:Time-based underemployment is a labour market mismatch that occurs in a circumstance th," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society.
    2. Scott Baum & William Mitchell, 2022. "Employment Outcomes for Men and Women Following an Economic Downturn: Labour Underutilisation in Australia," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(1), pages 85-101, March.
    3. Lidia Valiente-Palma & María del Carmen Pérez-González, 2023. "Underemployment due to overeducation: An analysis of worker cooperatives versus conventional firms," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 910-932, August.

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