6265.0 - Underemployed Workers, Australia, Sep 2010

GLOSSARY

Available to start work

Refers to people who were available to start work with more hours either in the reference week, or in the four weeks subsequent to the interview.

Contributing family workers

People who work without pay in an economic enterprise operated by a relative.

Duration of current period of insufficient work

For full-time workers who worked less than 35 hours in the reference week due to economic reasons, refers to the number of weeks they have been working less than 35 hours a week.

For part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours, refers to the number of weeks they have been wanting to work more hours.

As periods of insufficient work are recorded in full weeks and rounded down, this results in a slight understatement of duration.

Economic reasons

Economic reasons for full-time workers having worked less than 35 hours in the reference week are:

there was no work or not enough work available, e.g. due to material shortages;
they were stood down; or
they were on short time.

Employed

People aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:

worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, in a job or business or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers); or
worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers); or
were employees who had a job but were not at work and were:
were employers or own account workers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

Employees

People who:

worked for a public or private employer; and
received remuneration in wages, salary, or are paid a retainer fee by their employer and worked on a commission basis, or for tips or piece-rates or payment in kind; or
operated their own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.

Employers

People who operate his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engage independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees.

Full-time workers

Employed people who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) or others who, although usually worked less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

Fully employed workers

Employed people who:

worked full time during the reference week (including people who usually work part time but worked full time in the reference week); or
usually work full time but worked less than 35 hours in the reference week for non-economic reasons (such as illness or injury, leave holiday or flextime, or personal reasons); or
part-time workers who would not prefer to work additional hours.

Interstate

Refers to whether people were prepared to move to another state or territory if offered a suitable job.

Intrastate

Refers to whether people were prepared to move to another part of their state or territory if offered a suitable job.

Level of highest educational attainment

Level of highest educational attainment identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of study. It is not a measurement of the relative importance of different fields of study but a ranking of qualifications and other educational attainments regardless of the particular area of study or the type of institution in which the study was undertaken.

Years 12, 11 and 10 include people who are currently undertaking school study ( See Appendix 1 for more information).

Looking for work with more hours

Looked for work with more hours at some time during the four weeks up to the end of the reference week.

Mean duration of insufficient work

The mean duration of insufficient work is obtained by dividing the aggregate number of weeks a group has had insufficient work by the number of people in that group.

Mean preferred number of extra hours

The mean preferred number of extra hours is obtained by dividing the total preferred number of extra hours reported by a group by the number of people in that group.

Median duration of insufficient work

The median duration of insufficient work is obtained by dividing underemployed workers into two equal groups, one comprising people whose duration of insufficient work is above the mid point, and the other comprising people whose duration is below it.

Non-economic reasons

Non-economic reasons for full-time workers having worked less than 35 hours in the reference week include:

holiday, flextime or study leave;
own illness or injury or sick leave;
standard work arrangements, shift work or rostered day(s) off;
on strike, locked out or took part in an industrial dispute;
bad weather or plant breakdown;
began, left or lost job during the reference week; and
personal reasons.

Not available to start work

Refers to people who were not available to start work with more hours either in the reference week, or in the four weeks following the interview.

Not fully employed

People who are not fully employed comprise part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours, and full-time workers who worked part-time hours in the reference week for economic reasons.

Own account workers

People who operate his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engage independently in a profession or trade, and hires no employees.

Part-time workers

Employed people who usually worked less than 35 hours a week (in all jobs) and either did so during the reference week, or were not at work during the reference week.

Preferred number of extra hours

The number of extra hours a week an underemployed worker would have preferred to work.

Preferred total number of hours

The total number of hours per week an underemployed worker would prefer to work.

Reference week

The week preceding the week in which the interview was conducted.

Status in employment

Employed people classified by whether they were employees, employers, own account workers, or contributing family workers.

Suitable job

Job with the preferred number of hours.

Underemployed workers

Underemployed workers are employed people who would prefer, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have. They comprise:

part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours and were available to start work with more hours, either in the reference week or in the four weeks subsequent to the survey; and
full-time workers who worked part-time hours in the reference week for economic reasons (such as being stood down or insufficient work being available). It is assumed that these people would prefer to work full time in the reference week and would have been available to do so.

Underemployment rate

The number of underemployed workers expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Usual number of hours

The number of hours usually worked in a week.