On February 16, the United Kingdom's Office of National Statistics reported that underemployment in the UK have hit record of 1.16 Million, the highest figure since they started taking reports since 1992. Within 3 months leading up to December, the number of underemployed raised by a rate of 44,000 people which include self-employed and employees. And the number of people that were self-employed fell by 49,000 people in that same period which resulted in the change to 3.98 million people that are self-employed. There are a staggering 20.5% of underemployed youths which make up 965,000. As noted, larger businesses are returning to profit however smaller businesses and youths are still struggling to recoup from the economic recession. The annual growth rates for total pay in the UK have fallen to 1.8% for the three months ending in December, down from 2.1%. Public sectors are still at a strong 2.1% however it is outweighed by the private sector, which is at a low 1.7%.
As stated in "Working with Economics", the term underemployment describes a situation in which individuals are employed however not at a job that would utilize their skills fully. With that said, there are many people that have been hit hard with the recession and have been forced out of their jobs. And the unemployment rate doesn't include individuals who have lost their jobs and are working part-time to make up for their losses while they continue job searching, otherwise known as underemployment. This would greatly affects how the statistics are perceived as it would accurate draw the line between being employed, being underemployed and being unemployed. Underemployment and unemployment are harsh and being underemployment is an unfortunate situation especially after two years since the recession. With the underemployment hitting record highs in the UK, it has demonstrated that their economy hasn't been recovered in certain areas due to the rate of recovery being different in several sectors as inflation could have also been a contributing factor towards underemployment as small businesses struggle.
With underemployment at record highs, there is obviously a shortage in full-time employment for these people. The general underemployment statistics need to be perceived as much as the unemployment statistics as they are just as crucial of an economic indicator. It seems that since most underemployed are within the 16-24 age group, which make up roughly 965,000 youths, that businesses are more willing to hire individuals with years of experience rather than newcomers in the industry. And with small businesses being hit hard, they are less willing to take a newcomer as they are striving to bounce back into the green after the global recession. This is unfortunate as the economy, as a whole, should be recovering at the same rate in all areas however it could be contributed to the overall underemployment of the economy, especially in the 16-24 age group, as many businesses aren't given this age group much of a chance to make a good first impression to these businesses.
Source - http://www.suite101.com/content/under-employment-hits-record-high-in-the-united-kingdom-a349324
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