Underemployment rate

Definition

Time-related underemployment is defined as people who (during the reference period) are: willing and available to work additional hours and worked less than a relevant nationally determined threshold of working time.

Relevance

The use of the time-based underemployment rate is recommended to be used in combination with the unemployment rate, as unemployment does not capture the quality of employment. The use of these two indicators together was recommended in the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013. Monitoring the relationship between unemployment and time-related underemployment in rural vs urban areas by region may be useful in tracking shifts in agricultural employment. Disaggregated analysis by sex provides additional understanding of the shifts taking place in rural agricultural employment.