Abstract
New indicators of underemployment are presented for whites, blacks, Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans by sex. The indicators are based on hours worked, education, skill utilization, and pay. Data from the 1980 Current Population Survey are supplemented with Dictionary of Occupational Titles information to construct the indicators. Whites consistently have the lowest underemployment, and comparison across groups reveals the different types of employment problems faced by minorities and women. These indicators of underemployment are compared with those from a different conceptual approach (the Labor Utilization Framework) using the same survey data. The advantages of the new indicators are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brenner, H. M.: 1976, in U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee: Estimating the Social Costs of National Economic Policy: Implications for Mental and Physical Health, and Criminal Aggression, 94 Cong., 2nd Sess.
CloggC. C.: 1979, Measuring Underemployment: Demographic Indicators for the United States (Academic Press, New York).
CloggC. C. and T. A.Sullivan: 1983, ‘Demographic determinants of underemployment trends, 1969–1980’, Social Indicators Research 12, pp. 117–152.
DoeringerP. and M.Piore: 1971, International Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis (Heath Books, Lexington, Mass.).
GinzbergE.: 1979, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, No Jobs (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.).
HauserP. M.: 1974, ‘The measurement of labor utilization’, Malayan Economic Review 19, pp. 1–17.
HauserP. M.: 1977, ‘The measurement of labor utilization — more empirical results’, Malayan Economic Review 22, pp. 10–25.
LevitanS. and R.Taggart: 1974, ‘Employment-earnings inadequacy: a measure of welfare’, Monthly Labor Review 96, pp. 19–27.
National Commission on Employment and Unemployment Statistics: 1978, Concepts and Data Needs (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.).
RobinsonJ.: 1936, ‘Disguised unemployment’, Economic Journal 46, pp. 225–237.
RumbergerR. W.: 1981, ‘The rising incidence of overeducation in the U.S. labor market’, Economics of Education Review 1, pp. 293–314.
SullivanT.: 1974, ‘The importance of measuring underemployment: a demographer's approach’, The Social Welfare Forum 16, pp. 71–82.
SullivanT.: 1978, Marginal Workers, Marginal Jobs (University of Texas Press, Austin).
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: 1982, Unemployment and Underemployment Among Blacks, Hispanics, and Women (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.)
U.S. Department of Labor, Manpower Administration: 1972, Handbook for Analyzing Jobs, p. 209 (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.).
VietoriszT., R.Mier and J.Giblin: 1976, ‘Subemployment: exclusion and inadequacy indexes’, Monthly Labor Review 98, pp. 3–12.
WoolH.: 1976, The Labor Supply for Lower Level Occupations (U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Washington, D.C.).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tipps, H.C., Gordon, H.A. Inequality at work: Race, sex and underemployment. Soc Indic Res 16, 35–49 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317658
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317658