Women, young workers, minorities are more likely to be “underemployed”

The trend towards more flexible work arrangements has led to fewer opportunities for full-time permanent jobs. For some workers, this trend has caused deterioration in job quality, such as stagnant wages and underemployment. Certain types of workers seem to be more susceptible than others, particularly in terms of their health and well-being. This study looks at the health effects of underemployment in different social groups. It focuses on stress as the pathway by which underemployment might have an impact on health.

Underemployment is defined in terms of the fairness of exchange between workers and employers in three different areas: hours of work, income from work and skill use at work. Underemployment arises when there is a mismatch between work demands or conditions, and the worker’s needs, resources or abilities in any of these areas. Researchers collected information from the Canadian Survey of Labour Income Dynamics (SLID) on the health and work experiences reported by 5,546 individuals over a six-year period. Using this data, they studied the health consequences of the three types of underemployment.

Women, young workers and visible minorities were more likely to experience underemployment than their counterparts. The negative health effects varied in different social groups. For women, income or earnings underemployment was associated with poor health. For underemployed men, poor health was associated with hours of work. Younger workers were also more susceptible to the negative health effects of hours underemployment compared to older workers.

Because the study followed workers over time, researchers could isolate the health declines that occurred following an experience with underemployment. However, the SLID did not measure mental health. Yet mental health may be affected by work experiences earlier or to a greater degree than physical health.