Underemployment among part-time workers in EU rises to 21.4% in 2012 from 20.5% in 2011, 18.5% in 2008; 8.8 million people between 15-74 years old available to work but not looking for job, up from 8.6 million in 2011

Allison Oesterle

BRUSSELS , April 19, 2013 (press release) – Among the 43 million part-time workers in the EU27 in 2012, 9.2 million wished to work more hours, were available to do so1 and can therefore be considered to be underemployed. Since the start of the economic crisis the proportion of part-time workers wishing to work more hours and available to do so has grown steadily, from 18.5% in 2008 to 20.5% in 2011 and 21.4% in 2012.

In 2012, the largest proportions of people wishing to work more hours and available to do so among part-time workers were found in Member States where the share of employed persons working part-time is relatively low: Greece (66%), Spain (55%), Latvia (53%) and Cyprus (50%). On the other hand, the smallest proportion was found in the Netherlands (3%), where part-time working is the most common, followed by Estonia (8%) and the Czech Republic (10%).

This information2 is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on the 2012 results of the European Labour Force Survey. The three indicators presented in this News Release provide an enhanced and richer picture of the labour market, by supplementing the existing information which classifies people as employed, unemployed or economically inactive.

A potential additional labour force of 11 million persons in the EU27

Among the economically inactive population (those persons neither employed nor unemployed), there were 8.8 million persons aged 15 to 74 available to work, but not seeking3 and 2.3 million seeking work, but not available4 in the EU27 in 2012, compared with 8.6 million and 2.3 million respectively in 2011 and 7.3 million and 2.4 million respectively in 2008. While not part of the economically active population, both groups have a certain attachment to the labour market. Together these two groups constitute a potential additional labour force5 of 11.0 million people. In the EU27 these two groups were equivalent to 4.6% of the current labour force, a percentage varying between Member States, from 1.5% in the Czech Republic to 12.1% in Italy.

Underemployment and part-time work, 2012

* Euro area (EA17): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

** Excluding the overseas departments

Potential additional labour force5, 2012

: Data missing or not published due to small sample size

( ) Data with reduced reliability due to sample size.

* Excluding the overseas departments.

1. Persons aged 15-74 working part-time who wish to work additional hours and are available to do so. Part-time work is recorded as self-reported by individuals.
2. See Statistics Explained article for more details at the following link: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Underemployment_and_potential_additional_labour_force_statistics
3. Persons available to work but not seeking are persons aged 15-74 neither employed nor unemployed who want to work, are available to work in the next 2 weeks but do not seek work.
4. Persons seeking work but not immediately available are those aged 15-74 neither employed nor unemployed who actively sought work during the last 4 weeks but are not available to work in the next 2 weeks. For completeness this category also includes three smaller groups: those who found a job to start in less than 3 months and are not available to work in the next 2 weeks; those who found a job to start in 3 months or more; those who passively sought work during the last 4 weeks and are available to work in the next 2 weeks. Passive job search is e.g. waiting the results of a job interview
5. The labour force consists of persons in employment and unemployed. The potential additional labour force is the total of the groups "Persons seeking work but not immediately available" and "Persons available to work but not seeking".

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