Conceptional under-reporting of long-term unemployment

Abstract

"The current number of long-term unemployed persons or the proportion of long-term unemployed among all the unemployed refers to the size of the group of people for whom unemployment is not merely a short episode but has become a serious and in some cases an existential problem. In western Germany this proportion stands at 31.9% for 1996. The same number or the same proportion is also consulted for the assessment of labour markets or for the effect of political-economic measures and employment and training measures. In this respect the volume of long-term unemployment is given an indicator function. It is shown that the counting of long-term unemployed people currently practised in Germany and abroad, which serves therapeutic matters and is also sufficient for these, underreports the volume of long-term unemployment systematically and on a considerable scale. In the past 10 years in western Germany periods of unemployment lasting a year or longer constituted more than 50% of total unemployment; at present (1996) it stands at 58.4%. Roughly it can be said that the volume of long-term unemployment is about twice as high as the figure officially reported. A comparison with England and France shows that long-term unemployment is an even greater problem there; in both of the countries long-term unemployment accounts for 67% of the total unemployment. In this respect ranking procedures on labour market and labour market policy which are based on the figures usually used also need to be qualified." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Karr, W. (1997): Die konzeptionelle Untererfassung der Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 30, No. 1, p. 37-46.