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Economic Record
Volume 91, Issue 295
Original Research

Underemployment among Mature‐Age Workers in Australia†

First published: 23 September 2015
https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4932.12219
Citations: 11
†
This article uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Department of Social Services (DSS) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this article, however, are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either the DSS or the Melbourne Institute. This paper was funded by ARC Linkage grant LP120100624: ‘Understanding and Preventing Workforce Vulnerabilities in Midlife and Beyond'. The authors would like to thank Simon Biggs from University of Melbourne, Helen Kimberley and Dina Bowman from Brotherhood of St Laurence, Rebecca Cassells from Curtin University, Mark Evans from University of Canberra, and Jobs Australia Ltd, for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Abstract

Underemployment is a serious and pervasive problem both in terms of its impact on those individuals affected, and for the economy as a whole. Underemployment is associated with job insecurity, increased casualisation and lower savings, and from a macroeconomic standpoint, underemployment is a signal of inefficiency in the utilisation of skilled labour. This article explores the patterns of underemployment for mature‐age workers in Australia, a group for whom the prevalence of long spells of underemployment is especially marked. The research uses a 12‐year panel dataset to analyse factors that contribute to a heightened risk of underemployment. Significant path dependency is revealed, whereby previous periods of underemployment increase the propensity towards further underemployment in the current period. Interestingly, most demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, except for the presence of older dependent children and a non‐English‐speaking foreign‐born background for women, tend not to have any direct impact on the propensity for underemployment. These findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to triage these barriers aimed at highlighting the role of improved labour market attachment in promoting the well‐being and economic contribution of mature‐age workers.

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