The hidden labour force in the United Kingdom

Abstract

"In order to quantify the existing underemployment over and above the officially published underemployment figures, the IAB calculates for Germany a figure which it calls the "Stille Reserve", "hidden unemployment" or "hidden labour force". It can be assumed that there is a hidden labour force in other countries, too. The OECD, for example, submits calculations which suggest that many countries have a far higher level of underemployment than is expressed by the official unemployment statistics. The consequence of this is that more than just the official unemployment figures should be used when evaluating the true labour market situation and when drawing up international comparisons. This paper sets out to make an empirical contribution to this. It was decided to use the United Kingdom (UK) for the study, a country which, because of the favourable development of its labour market over the last few years, could serve as a point of orientation for German employment policy. As the estimates will show, however, it would seem that there is also a high hidden labour force in the UK." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Fuchs, J. & Schmidt, D. (2000): The hidden labour force in the United Kingdom. A contribution to the quantification of underemployment in international comparisons. In: IAB Labour Market Research Topics No. 39, p. 1-23.