246,000 under-employed workers in West Midlands

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston

There are 246,000 under-employed workers across the west midlands, an increase of 33 per cent since the start of the recession, according to a TUC analysis of official figures published today (Tuesday).

Around one in ten workers in the west midlands are under-employed – doing part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time ones or wanting more hours in their current jobs.

The analysis shows that under-employment is an even greater problem than has previously been realised, because it is not just those in part-time jobs who want to work full-time who are under-employed. Many more workers across the economy want more hours in their existing jobs.

More than one in ten workers across the UK are under-employed, though the likelihood of being affected varies considerably by age, gender and job sector.

Women are more likely to be under-employed than men, with around one in eight employed women finding themselves without enough hours.

Under-employment is most common in low-skilled jobs, where around one in five workers are not getting enough hours. People working in sales and customer services are also increasingly likely to be under-employed. These occupations also have the highest rates of unemployment.

Young people are almost twice as likely to be under-employed as any other age group with around one in five young people in this position. This, combined with high rates of joblessness, illustrates just how desperate the UK’s youth jobs crisis is.

However, rising under-employment shows that there are deep rooted problems in the labour market, with more and more people not working or earning enough to get by.

While any job is better than no job at all, particularly during a recession, the TUC is concerned that under-employment is becoming an ever-more permanent feature of the labour market.

Under-employment causes a huge cut in pay, and often also involves working well below your skill level. Long periods of this kind of work can put a real strain on the finances of workers and their families, and can damage people’s career prospects,  says the TUC.

Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Rob Johnston said: “Unemployment is a major problem across the west midlands. But this only tells half the story. Nearly a quarter of a million people are trapped in jobs that don’t have enough hours to provide the income they need to get by. Fewer hours mean less pay, and an even bigger struggle to pay the bills.

“Young people, women and low skilled workers are bearing the brunt of our under-employment crisis. It is alarming just how few young people today are able to find a job working enough hours. This is a criminal waste of the talent and skills they have – all because of a crisis they didn’t cause.

“Any job may be better than no job at all but long periods of under-employment can do permanent damage to people’s careers. Ministers need to start taking the issue seriously as it’s dragging down the economy as well as causing financial hardship.

“Solving our under-employment crisis is not easy, and it won’t be tackled through endless unpaid work initiatives.

“What the country needs is an economic strategy that puts people’s futures ahead of self-defeating austerity. Cuts in infrastructure spending must be reversed and growing industries need more government support. We also need banks to start lending again, so that businesses can grow and create jobs.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Under-employment by UK region and nation, 2008-2012

Region	Under-employment level, 2008	Under-employment level,  2012	Increase in level, 2008-2012	Under-employment rate, 2012 (per cent)
North East	91,188	132,105	40,917 (45 per cent)	11.6
North West	249,019	370,808	121,789 (49 per cent)	12.1
Yorkshire and Humberside	197,251	265,810	68,559 (35 per cent)	11.0
East Midlands	177,229	266,030	88,801 (50 per cent)	12.5
West Midlands	185,259	246,644	61,385 (33 per cent)	10.1
Eastern	206,904	304,953	98,049 (47 per cent)	10.6
London	299,708	441,085	141,377 (47 per cent)	11.6
South East	335,860	468,245	132,385 (39 per cent)	11.2
South West	218,672	293,636	74,964 (34 per cent)	11.8
Wales	124,720	172,696	47,976 (38 per cent)	13.0
Scotland	194,445	270,510	76,065 (39 per cent)	11.0
Northern Ireland	36,332	67,243	30,911 (85 per cent)	8.4
UK	2,316,587	3,299,765	983,178 (42 per cent)	11.3

Source: Labour Force Survey

- The full TUC analysis is available at http://bit.ly/N82hoD

- The analysis takes into account both those who are working part-time and would like full-time work and those who would like to undertake more hours in their current job (controlling for double counting between the groups).

- There are small variations in total levels of under-employment documented in each table as a result of differential response rates to specific Labour Force Survey questions.

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

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