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AS Macro Key Term: Under-employment

Geoff Riley

7th April 2011

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Under-employment happens when people want to work full time but find that they can only get part-time work – the result is a loss of hours that the economy can use and a reduction in supply-side production capacity. This is a common feature of a recession or a slowdown in economic growth which causes a reduction in the number of full-time job vacancies.Total part-time employment in the UK has expanded by nearly two million since the early 1990s. Partly this reflects a shift towards a more flexible labour market - the demand for part-time flexible work patterns often times comes from both employees and employers.

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Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for nearly forty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD and Revision conferences in the UK and overseas.

@tutor2uGeoff

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