Employment below the level of qualification - an occupational impasse? : an analysis for younger non-graduates in western Germany

Abstract

"In the paper the length of time spent in employment below the level of qualification is analysed for the first time. Using an exponential hazard rate model the study looks at transitions from inadequate employment into activities which are suited to the qualification level. What is examined are the careers of western German non-graduates of the birth year cohorts 1964 and 1971 from the study on life courses conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Educational Research in Berlin. This data basis provides information in the form of monthly spell data about all career changes from the beginning of employment until the time of the survey in 1998. The empirical results substantiate a considerable extent of individual persistence of inadequate employment. However, the risk of remaining in inadequate employment is extremely heterogeneous. People in inadequate employment who have better human capital move up far more rapidly into activities that are suited to their qualifications than other people. For people with an inadequate school education and those who only have simple vocational training, employment which is inadequate for the level of qualification frequently constitutes an occupational impasse." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Pollmann-Schult, M. & Büchel, F. (2002): Ausbildungsinadäquate Erwerbstätigkeit: eine berufliche Sackgasse? Eine Analyse für jüngere Nicht-Akademiker in Westdeutschland. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 35, No. 3, p. 371-384.