Sandra McLellan
Question:16. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps he has taken to tackle the issue of underemployment including supporting and promoting full time employment. [42588/13]
View answerThursday, 10 October 2013
Questions (16)
Written answers
The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) provides estimates of the number of people who are working on a part-time basis involuntarily, which is also known as part-time underemployment.
Under the Eurostat definition applied in the Quarterly National Household Survey an underemployed part-time worker is a person aged 15-74 working part-time who would like to work additional hours and is available to do so. Part-time work is recorded as self-reported by individuals.
The estimated number of part-time underemployed persons in the second quarter of 2013 was 149,400. This represents a decrease over the past year, and is down 7,300 or -4.6% on the position in the second quarter of 2012. This is the first annual decline in part-time underemployment recorded since the third quarter of 2010. Part-time underemployment represented 33.0% of total part-time employment in Q2 2013, down from 34.3% in Q2 of 2012.
Opportunities to access full-time jobs and up-skilling and further career development are essential to overcome involuntary part-time work and to provide individuals with the necessary means to maintain their employability and make transitions work.
Employment is now increasing across many sectors and occupations, both in full-time and in part-time employments. The latest information from the Quarterly National Household Survey shows an annual increase in employment of 1.8% or 33,800 in the year to the second quarter of 2013, bringing total employment to 1,869,900. The QNHS data shows that the increase in total employment of 33,800 in the year to Q2 2013 was represented by an increase in full-time employment of 21,600 (+1.5%) and an increase in part-time employment of 12,100 (+2.8%).
It will be through transitioning the economy onto a competitive and sustainable path that greater employment opportunities will be created for those that are currently underemployed. The policies to address underemployment align with wider employment strategy. Assisting companies to win new markets, to innovate and grow are essential to overcome underemployment. The Action Plan for Jobs concentrates on implementing changes to help promote entrepreneurship, improve access to finance, the capacity of our companies and educational institutions to innovate and build new sectors of opportunity.