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Title: Underemployment As Disguised Unemployment and Its Social Costs
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Dooley, David Prause, JoAnn |
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Underemployment As Disguised Unemployment and Its Social Costs Presented: Baltimore, MD, American Psychological Association - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Conference, March 1999 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA) Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Depression (see also CESD); Employment; Self-Esteem; Unemployment Research on economic stress has concentrated on the social costs of job loss or unemployment in contrast to employment. Surprisingly, the current low unemployment rates in the U.S. have been accompanied by high levels of concern by workers about their jobs. Perhaps these workers worry that their jobs are not secure or have noticed that the recent recovery has produced little or no gain in real earnings of low-income workers. These observations call our attention to underemployment, but little is known about the social consequences of underemployment. The goal of this paper is to assess the human impact of this "disguised unemployment". The analyses are based on the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a nationally representative panel with annual reinterviews from 1979 to 1994. Impact measures include depression, self-esteem, and alcohol abuse. Employment status measures followed the Current Population Survey permitting categorization of each respondent as out of the labor force, adequately employed, unemployed (including discouraged workers), and underemployed. The underemployed category includes involuntary part time and poverty wage workers following Sullivan (1978) and Clogg (1979). Controlling for self-esteem while still in high school in 1980 and compared to those who became stably and adequately employed, self-esteem was lower in 1987 in those who were unemployed, working involuntarily part time, working at poverty level wages, or working but with recent unemployment experiences. For workers in their mid-20s who were adequately employed in 1984 and controlling for alcohol abuse then, those who became underemployed (poverty level wages or involuntary part time) or unemployed a year later evidenced increased alcohol abuse. For workers in their late 20s and early 30s, there are adverse effects of underemployment as well as unemployment on 1994 depression controlling for 1992 depression. Similar analyses are ongoing for especially vulnerable subgroups such as AFDC recipients who, if they are able to leave welfare, are at high risk to enter underemployment. These findings emphasize the need for researchers in the occupational health and economic stress areas to include underemployment in their studies. These findings also make a case for reporting underemployment in routine labor statistics. |
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Bibliography Citation
Dooley, David and JoAnn Prause. "Underemployment As Disguised Unemployment and Its Social Costs." Presented: Baltimore, MD, American Psychological Association - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Conference, March 1999. |