Labour Force Survey in 2011 Around 8.5 million part-time workers in the EU27 wished to work more hours

STAT/12/61

19 April 2012

Labour Force Survey in 2011
Around 8.5 million part-time workers in the EU27 wished to work more hours

Among the 42 million part-time workers in the EU27 in 2011, 8.6 million wished to work more hours, were available to do so1 and can therefore be considered to be underemployed. These accounted for 20.5% of part-time workers and 4.0% of total employment. In 2010, the corresponding figures were very similar: 41.3 million persons worked part time and 8.5 million were underemployed.

The largest proportions of people wishing to work more hours and available to do so among part-time workers were found in Greece (58%), Latvia (57%), Spain (49%) and Cyprus (42%), and these are Member States where the shares of employed persons working part-time are relatively low. On the other hand, the smallest proportion was found in the Netherlands and Belgium (both 3%), where part-time working is common, followed by the Czech Republic (10%) and Luxembourg (9%).

This information is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on the 2011 results of the European Labour Force Survey released today. The three indicators presented in this News Release provide an enhanced and richer picture of the labour market, by supplementing the existing information which classifies people as employed, unemployed or economically inactive.

A potential additional labour force of almost 11 million persons in the EU27

Among the economically inactive population (those persons neither employed nor unemployed), there were 8.6 million persons aged 15 to 74 available to work, but not seeking2 and 2.4 million seeking work, but not available3 in the EU27 in 2011, compared with 8.2 million and 2.4 million respectively in 2010. While not part of the economically active population, both groups have a certain attachment to the labour market. Together these two groups constitute a potential additional labour force4 of 10.9 million people. In the EU27 these two groups were equivalent to 4.6% of the current labour force, a percentage varying between Member States, from 1.4% in the Czech Republic to 12.1% in Italy.

Underemployment and part-time work, 2011

* Euro area (EA17): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

Potential additional labour force4, 2011

: Data missing or not published due to small sample size

( ) Data with reduced reliability due to sample size.

• Persons aged 15-74 working part-time who wish to work additional hours and are available to do so. Part-time work is recorded as self-reported by individuals.

• Persons seeking work but not immediately available are those aged 15-74 neither employed nor unemployed who actively sought work during the last 4 weeks but are not available to work in the next 2 weeks. For completeness this category also includes three smaller groups: those who found a job to start in less than 3 months and are not available to work in the next 2 weeks; those who found a job to start in 3 months or more; those who passively sought work during the last 4 weeks and are available to work in the next 2 weeks. Passive job search is e.g. waiting the results of a job interview

• Persons available to work but not seeking are persons aged 15-74 neither employed nor unemployed who want to work, are available to work in the next 2 weeks but do not seek work.

• The labour force consists of persons in employment and unemployed. The potential additional labour force is the total of the groups "Persons seeking work but not immediately available" and "Persons available to work but not seeking".

Eurostat News Releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat