Underemployment in America

Archive Report

Relationship to Unemployment

Inability of Job Seekers to Find Suitable Work

Unemployment has captured the national spotlight in recent months but, with a new crop of graduates in the labor force, a related problem is now receiving attention. This is the problem of underemployment—working at a job that does not make good use of one's ability, training or experience. Unlike unemployment, whose figures are compiled nationally each month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Bls), there is no official or objective measurement of underemployment. But its prevalence is well known. A study of working conditions conducted for the Department of Labor in 1974 found that 35 per cent of all American workers believed they were overqualified for their jobs.1 Myron Clark, former president of the ...

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