discouraged worker

{{short description|Person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment}}

{{Globalize|date=December 2010}}

Image:Distribution of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and older first quarter 2009.png

Image:Persons not in the labor force selected indicators quarterly averages 1994–2009 not seasonally adjusted.png

File:Unemployed.jpg

In economics, a discouraged worker is a person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment or who has not found employment after long-term unemployment, but who would prefer to be working. This is usually because an individual has given up looking, hence the term "discouraged".

A discouraged worker, since not actively seeking employment, has fallen out of the core statistics of the unemployment rate since they are neither working nor job-seeking. Their giving up on job-seeking may derive from a variety of factors including a shortage of jobs in their locality or line of work; discrimination for reasons such as age, race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, and disability; a lack of necessary skills, training, or experience; a chronic illness or disability; or simply a lack of success in finding a job.

As a general practice, discouraged workers, who are often classified as marginally attached to the labor force, on the margins of the labor force, or as part of hidden unemployment, are not considered part of the labor force, and are thus not counted in most official unemployment rates—which influences the appearance and interpretation of unemployment statistics.

One of the reasons why people become discouraged workers is discrimination in the workplace. The research found that minorities are more likely to become discouraged workers due to discrimination. The minorities, such as African Americans, ethnic and racial minorities in Europe, and older workers, tend to become discouraged workers more than others. Discrimination leads workers to be discouraged workers because discrimination caused feelings of helplessness and uncontrollability and decreases a level of self-efficacy. The studies of discouraged workers are undertaken, as it is seen as "hidden unemployment". However, it is related to major social problems like minority discrimination and the lack of a diverse community.{{Cite journal |last1=Heslin |first1=Peter A. |last2=Bell |first2=Myrtle P. |last3=Fletcher |first3=Pinar O. |date=2012-05-07 |title=The devil without and within: A conceptual model of social cognitive processes whereby discrimination leads stigmatized minorities to become discouraged workers |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.1795 |journal=Journal of Organizational Behavior |volume=33 |issue=6 |pages=840–862 |doi=10.1002/job.1795 |issn=0894-3796}}

There are not significant behavioral patterns of labor force participation across age-sex groups in the business cycle. It is related to the unemployment rate in the region. Generally, the discouraged worker effect gets stronger when the unemployment rate exceeds a certain level. Young workers are most dependent on the business cycle, regarding the decision of whether to participate in the labor force. There is a linear relationship only among the prime-age female between the added workers and the discouraged workers. The discouraged worker effects appear more for older workers during the exception phase, which is the phase when the unemployment rates of workers departed.{{Cite journal |last1=Congregado |first1=Emilio |last2=Gałecka-Burdziak |first2=Ewa |last3=Golpe |first3=Antonio |last4=Pater |first4=Robert |date=2020-01-06 |title=Asymmetry and Non-linearity in Discouraged and Added Worker Effects |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00128775.2019.1710215 |journal=Eastern European Economics |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=221–241 |doi=10.1080/00128775.2019.1710215 |s2cid=214364089 |issn=0012-8775}}

United States

Image:Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession Issues in Labor Statistics issue in labor stats apr2009.gif

In the United States, a discouraged worker is defined as a person not in the labor force who wants and is available for a job and who has looked for work sometime in the past 12 months (or since the end of his or her last job if a job was held within the past 12 months), but who is not currently looking because of real or perceived poor employment prospects.{{cite book |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Arthur |author-link1=Arthur O'Sullivan (economist) |last2=Sheffrin |first2=Steven M. |title=Economics: Principles in Action |edition=2nd |series=The Wall Street Journal: Classroom Edition |year=2003 |orig-year= January 2002|publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall: Addison Wesley Longman|location=Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 |isbn=978-0-13-063085-8 |page= 336}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm|title=BLS Information |date=February 28, 2008|work=Glossary|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services |access-date=2009-05-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbo.gov/budget/glossary.shtml |title=Glossary |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506160319/https://www.cbo.gov/budget/glossary.shtml |archive-date=May 6, 2009 }}

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not count discouraged workers as unemployed but rather refers to them as only "marginally attached to the labor force".{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1998/07/art3full.pdf|title=Persons outside the labor force who want a job|last=Castillo|first=Monica D. |date=July 1998|work=Monthly Labor Review|publisher=LABSTAT Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm389.cfm|title=Tracking the Long-Term Unemployed and Discouraged Workers|last=Hederman Jr.|first=Rea S.|date=January 9, 2004|work=WebMemo #389|publisher=The heritage foundation|access-date=2009-05-10|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609065943/http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm389.cfm|archive-date=June 9, 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/job-pie/#more-10539|title=Job Market Pie|last=Rampell |first=Catherine |date=April 30, 2009|work=Business: Economicx|publisher=The New York Times|access-date=2009-05-10}} This means that the officially measured unemployment captures so-called "frictional unemployment" and not much else.{{cite web|url=http://blog.mises.org/archives/002234.asp|title=The Sin of Wages?|last=Garrison|first=Roger |date=July 12, 2004|work=Archives|publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute |access-date=2009-05-12}} This has led some economists to believe that the actual unemployment rate in the United States is higher than what is officially reported while others suggest that discouraged workers voluntarily choose not to work.{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/17/BU239666.DTL|title= Jobless statistics overlook many Official numbers omit discouraged seekers, part-time workers|last= Zuckerman|first=Sam|date=November 17, 2002|work=Business|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=2009-05-12}} Nonetheless, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published the discouraged worker rate in [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm alternative measures of labor underutilization] under U-4 since 1994 when the most recent redesign of the CPS was implemented.{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm|title=Alternative measures of labor underutilization|date=May 8, 2009 |work=Economic News Release|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Current Employment Statistics |access-date=2009-05-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils67.pdf|title=The Unemployment Rate and Beyond: Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization (Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 08-06, June 2008)|date=June 2008|work=Issues in labor statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}

The United States Department of Labor first began tracking discouraged workers in 1967 and found 500,000 at the time.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973773,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308030019/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973773,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2008|title=Down And Out: "Discouraged" Workers|last=McCARROLL|first=THOMAS |date=Sep 9, 1991|work=magazine|publisher=Time magazine|access-date=2009-05-10}} Today, In the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of April 2009, there are 740,000 discouraged workers.{{cite web|url=http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/05/black-male-unemployment-jumps-to-172.html |title=Black Male Unemployment Jumps to 17.2% |date=May 8, 2009 |publisher=Dollars & Sense |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512200821/http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/05/black-male-unemployment-jumps-to-172.html |archive-date=May 12, 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm|title=Employment Situation Summary|date=May 8, 2009 |work=Economic News Release|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Labor Force Statistics |access-date=2009-05-10}} There is an ongoing debate as to whether discouraged workers should be included in the official unemployment rate. Over time, it has been shown that a disproportionate number of young people, blacks, Hispanics, and men make up discouraged workers.{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils74.pdf|title=Issues in Labor Statistics: Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession|date=May 1, 2009|work=Issues in Labor Statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services |pages=2|access-date=2009-05-10}}{{cite web|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/actual_us_unemployment_158.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515045759/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/actual_us_unemployment_158.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2009|title=Actual U.S. Unemployment: 15.8%|last=Ahrens|first=Frank |date=May 8, 2009 |work=Economy Watch|publisher=The Washington Post|access-date=2009-05-10}}{{Cite journal|date=2011-06-01|title=Unemployment and labor force participation in the United States|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176511000723|journal=Economics Letters|language=en|volume=111|issue=3|pages=203–206|doi=10.1016/j.econlet.2011.02.022|issn=0165-1765|last1=Emerson|first1=Jamie}} Nonetheless, it is generally believed that the number of discouraged workers is underestimated because it does not include homeless people or those who have not looked for or held a job during the past twelve months and is often poorly tracked.{{cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctjobless0419.artapr19,0,3865644.story|title='Hidden Unemployment' Inflates State's Real Jobless Figures|last=PODSADA|first=JANICE|date=April 19, 2009|work=Business|publisher=The Hartford Courant|access-date=2009-05-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429100007/http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctjobless0419.artapr19,0,3865644.story|archive-date=April 29, 2009}}

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top five reasons for discouragement are the following:{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils74.pdf|title=Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession|date=April 2009|work=Issues in Labor Statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}{{Cite journal|last=Liu|first=De-Chih|date=November 2017|title=The Discouraged Worker and Suicide in the United States|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-016-1437-8|journal=Social Indicators Research|language=en|volume=134|issue=2|pages=771–787|doi=10.1007/s11205-016-1437-8|s2cid=152002712|issn=0303-8300}}

  1. The worker thinks no work is available.
  2. The worker could not find work.
  3. The worker lacks schooling or training.
  4. The worker is viewed as too young or too old by the prospective employer.
  5. The worker is the target of various types of discrimination.

As the world navigates through the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of job seekers in the United States are becoming discouraged, leaving the labor force entirely, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.{{Cite web|last1=Parker|first1=Kim|last2=Minkin|first2=Rachel|last3=Bennett|first3=Jesse|date=2020-09-24|title=Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues To Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/09/24/economic-fallout-from-covid-19-continues-to-hit-lower-income-americans-the-hardest/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project|language=en-US}} The number of Americans who are out of work and have experienced long-term unemployment, while still continuing to look for a job for more than six months, has increased considerably in the year since the start of the COVID-19 recession.{{Cite web|last=Bennett|first=Jesse|title=Long-term unemployment has risen sharply in U.S. amid the pandemic, especially among Asian Americans|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/11/long-term-unemployment-has-risen-sharply-in-u-s-amid-the-pandemic-especially-among-asian-americans/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Pew Research Center|date=11 March 2021 |language=en-US}} During periods of economic weakness, the labor force participation rate in the United States has tended to decline during economic downturns. During the 2007–09 recession, the unemployment rate for discouraged workers more than doubled. From late 2007 to early 2011, the number of discouraged workers increased from about 350,000 to a peak of about 1.3 million.{{Cite web|last=Cunningham,Evan|title=Great Recession, great recovery? Trends from the Current Population Survey : Monthly Labor Review: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/great-recession-great-recovery.htm|access-date=2021-12-11|website=www.bls.gov|language=en-us}} The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the lingering effects of the 2007–2009 recession and the slow recovery will continue to restrain participation.{{Cite web|date=2018-02-07|title=Factors Affecting the Labor Force Participation of People Ages 25 to 54 {{!}} Congressional Budget Office|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53452|access-date=2021-12-11|website=www.cbo.gov|language=en}} The effects of the coronavirus greatly impacted the United States economy. Pew Research Center reports that overall, 25% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household was laid off or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak, with 15% saying this happened to them personally. Nearly 529,000 Americans were classified as discouraged workers in February 2021, roughly 100,000 more than the number one year ago. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, labor market participation rate sharply declined due to the lack of job opportunities that perpetuated discourage people from searching for employment. Like most economic crisis as the labor market improves and jobs becomes more plentiful, unemployed workers will reenter the labor force. CBO expects that discouraged workers are likely to continue to reenter the labor force as more people find jobs and wage growth increases.

Canada

In Canada, discouraged workers are often referred to as hidden unemployed because of their behavioral pattern, and are often described as on the margins of the labour force. Since the numbers of discouraged workers and of unemployed generally move in the same direction during the business cycle and the seasons (both tend to rise in periods of low economic activity and vice versa), some economists have suggested that discouraged workers should be included in the unemployment numbers because of the close association.

The information on the number and composition of the discouraged worker group in Canada originates from two main sources. One source is the monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a monthly survey that provides an estimate of both employment and unemployment.{{Cite web|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=2021-11-04|title=Labour Force Survey (LFS)|url=https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3701|access-date=2021-11-11|website=www23.statcan.gc.ca}} The LFS’ definition of discouraged workers has not changed since 1997. It is defined as people who were willing and available to work during the reference week but did not work because they believed there was no suitable work available. The other source is the Survey of Job Opportunities (SJO), which is much closer in design to the approach used in many other countries. In this survey, all those expressing a desire for work and who are available for work are counted, irrespective of their past job search activity.{{cite journal|last=Akyeampong|first=Ernest B. |date=Autumn 1989|title=Discouraged Workers|journal=Perspectives on Labour and Income|volume=1|series=2|publisher=Statistics Canada|location=Canada|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/af-fdr.cgi?l=eng&loc=e-pdf/2283-eng.pdf|access-date=2009-05-12}}

In Canada, while discouraged workers were once less educated than "average workers", they now have better training and education but still tend to be concentrated in areas of high unemployment.{{cite journal|last=Akyeampong|first=Ernest B.|date=Autumn 1992|title=Discouraged workers - where have they gone?|journal=Perspectives on Labour and Income|volume=4|issue=Article 5|series=3|publisher=Statistics Canada|location=Canada|id=Catalogue=75- 001E|url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=75-001-X199200328&lang=eng|format=PDF|access-date=2009-05-12|archive-date=2014-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305161626/http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=75-001-X199200328&lang=eng|url-status=dead}} Discouraged workers are not seeking a job for one of two reasons: labour market-related reasons (worker discouragement, waiting for recall to a former job or waiting for replies to earlier job search efforts) and personal and other reasons (illness or disability, personal or family responsibilities, going to school, and so on).

The table below uses the data from the LFS since 2016. Unemployment was slowly rising from the year 2016 where it was 10,115,700 people to 2019 where the number increased to 10,555,000 people. Similar to the rest of the world, the Covid-19 pandemic caused an even greater increase in the total unemployment, affecting a high of 11,156,000 people. Among the set of the population classified as discouraged workers, there is a greater rise, going from 21,800 people in 2019 to 70,400 in 2020.{{Cite web|last=Government of Canada|first=Statistics Canada|date=2012-05-14|title=Reason for not looking for work, annual|url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410012801|access-date=2021-11-11|website=www150.statcan.gc.ca}}

LFS Reason for not looking for work x 1000: Both sexes, ages 15 and older.

class="wikitable"

|

|2016

|2017

|2018

|2019

|2020

Total not in the labor force

|10115.7

|10234.0

|10488.6

|10555

|11156

Discouraged workers

|30.5

|24.7

|21.7

|21.8

|70.4

Not in the labor force but wanted work

|407.7

|396

|374.9

|366.5

|722.6

It is worth noting that there is a vast population of Aboriginal people that reside in Canada. Canada classifies the following three groups under the broad term Aboriginal: the First Nations, Inuit, and the Metis. Statistics Canada does not measure Aboriginal unemployment separate from the population as a whole, but the Aboriginal people make up a big portion of the unemployed and discouraged worker count. The 2008 recession hit the Aboriginals harder than the rest of the population, which created a pattern of high rates of unemployment and discouraged workers.{{Cite journal|last=Lamb|first=Danielle|date=2015|title=The Economic Impact of the Great Recession on Aboriginal People Living off Reserve in Canada|url=https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ri/2015-v70-n3-ri02101/1033406ar/|journal=Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations|language=en|volume=70|issue=3|pages=457–485|doi=10.7202/1033406ar|issn=0034-379X|doi-access=free}}

The Aboriginal have greater restrictions to work than the normal population due to race, lower human capital, and education. These factors subject the population to more part-time-part-year work, layoffs, job loss and lower pay. Dealing with this over time produces more discouraged workers, and produces a smaller labor force participation. Aboriginal peoples were three times as likely to be discouraged workers than the rest of the population.

Australia

In Australia, discouraged workers are recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) into a category of potential workers who are not actively seeking work. In order to be categorized as discouraged, individuals must a) want to work, b) be available to start working within 4 weeks, and c) are not actively applying for jobs because they are discouraged. According to ABS, there were 808,000 persons classified as unemployed in February 2021 plus an additional 1.157 million marginally attached to the labor force.{{Cite web|date=2021-07-07|title=Potential workers, February 2021 {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/potential-workers/latest-release|access-date=2021-11-11|website=www.abs.gov.au|language=en}} The 113,000 discouraged workers fall into this marginally attached group.

The top three reasons that discouraged workers in Australia did not actively seek work in the week prior were:

  1. Considered too young or too old by employers
  2. No jobs in locality, line of work or no jobs at all
  3. No jobs in suitable hours

The table below shows how there has been an overall increase in the number of discouraged workers in Australia, even with decreases from 2015 to 2016 and again from 2018 to 2019. As with many other countries, the number of discouraged workers increases during times of economic downturn which would explain the increases seen in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite journal|last=Evans|first=Andrew|date=2018-07-04|title=Evidence of the added-worker and discouraged-worker effects in Australia|journal=International Review of Applied Economics|language=en|volume=32|issue=4|pages=472–488|doi=10.1080/02692171.2017.1351530|s2cid=157977644|issn=0269-2171|doi-access=free}} Additionally, women are more likely to be discouraged workers than men in Australia.{{Cite journal|last1=Hunter|first1=Boyd|last2=Gray|first2=Matthew|title=Indigenous Labour Force Status Re-visited: Factors Associated with the Discouraged Worker Phenomenon|url=https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.193590292395729|journal=Australian Journal of Labour Economics|volume=4|issue=2|pages=111–133}}

class="wikitable"

|+Australia Unemployed & Discouraged Workers

!

!Unemployed

(Seasonally

adjusted)

!Discouraged

Workers

(all)

!Discouraged

Workers

(Male)

!Discouraged

Workers

(Female)

2015

|761,200

|106,400

|48,900

|57,500

2016

|717,500

|101,200

|42,400

|58,800

2017

|747,800

|100,300

|42,200

|58,100

2018

|734,700

|101,500

|42,900

|58,600

2019

|665,100

|90,100

|40,500

|49,600

2020

|695,700

|103,00

|45,800

|57,200

2021

|805,200

|113,000

|52,100

|60,900

The [https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/ Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research] (CAEPR) at The Australian National University has done further research of discouraged workers within Australia’s Indigenous population. As discussed by Hunter and Gray, Indigenous Australians are more than three times more likely to become discouraged than the Australian population as a whole. Similar to what is seen in the entire Australian population, Indigenous females experience higher rates of discouraged workers as compared to males. The top two reasons for becoming discouraged for the indigenous population as a whole were “childcare and other family responsibilities” and “studying/returning to studies.”

European Union

Unemployment statistics published according to the ILO methodology may understate actual unemployment in the economy.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/mar/17/10-things-unemployment-statistics|title=10 things you didn't know about the unemployment statistics|work=The Guardian|date=17 March 2010|access-date=15 October 2014}} The EU statistical bureau EUROSTAT started publishing figures on discouraged workers in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-11-057/EN/KS-SF-11-057-EN.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204123802/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-11-057/EN/KS-SF-11-057-EN.PDF |archive-date=2013-12-04 }} According to the method used by EUROSTAT there are 3 categories that make up discouraged workers;

  • underemployed part-time workers
  • jobless persons seeking a job but not immediately available for work,
  • persons available for work but not seeking it

The first group are contained in the employed statistics of the European Labour Force Survey while the second two are contained in the inactive persons statistics of that survey.

In 2012 there were 9.2 million underemployed part-time workers, 2.3 million jobless persons seeking a job but not immediately available for work, and 8.9 million persons available for work but not seeking it, an increase of 0.6 million for underemployed and 0.3 million for the two groups making up discouraged workers.{{cite web|url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_and_underemployment_statistics|title=Unemployment and beyond|access-date=15 October 2014}}

If the discouraged workers and underemployed are added to official unemployed statistics Spain has the highest number real unemployed (8.4 Million), followed by Italy (6.4 Million), United Kingdom (5.5 Million), France (4.8 Million) and Germany (3.6 Million).

class="sortable wikitable"

|+ List of EU countries hidden unemployment in 2012{{cite web |url=http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-19042013-BP/EN/3-19042013-BP-EN.PDF |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-11-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228054303/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-19042013-BP/EN/3-19042013-BP-EN.PDF |archive-date=2013-12-28 }}

!Country

!Underemployed Part-time workers
Thousands

!Jobless persons seeking a job but not immediately available for work
Thousands

!Persons available for work but not seeking it
Thousands

!Unemployed
Thousands

{{flag|Belgium}}15810060369
{{flag|Bulgaria}}2927026410
{{flag|Czech Republic}}276217367
{{flag|Denmark}}886924219
{{flag|Germany}}1,8105825082,316
{{flag|Estonia}}1041371
{{flag|Ireland}}1474413316
{{flag|Greece}}19091361,204
{{flag|Spain}}1,3851,0712365,769
{{flag|France}}1,1442854443,002
{{flag|Italy}}6052,9751112,744
{{flag|Cyprus}}2015352
{{flag|Latvia}}44676155
{{flag|Lithuania}}3716197
{{flag|Luxembourg}}513213
{{flag|Hungary}}8821511476
{{flag|Malta}}5512
{{flag|Netherlands}}13830885469
{{flag|Austria}}14814439189
{{flag|Poland}}3446321021,749
{{flag|Portugal}}25623229860
{{flag|Romania}}239458701
{{flag|Slovenia}}181390
{{flag|Slovakia}}374113378
{{flag|Finland}}7511163207
{{flag|Sweden}}237134101403
{{flag|United Kingdom}}1,9077743342,511
{{flag|Norway}}81672285

India

The discouraged worker effects in India are divided into two concepts, unexplained gender wage gap and degree of underemployment. The discouraged worker effects are related to the recession in the business cycle, mainly affecting women or the secondary income earners in the household. Gender discrimination in the labor market, the lack of job opportunities, and the wage gap discourage women from entering the labor force in India.{{Cite journal |last1=TAYAL |first1=DEEKSHA |last2=PAUL |first2=SOURABH |date=2021 |title=Discouraged Worker Effect and Labor Market Behavior of Urban Married Women |journal=Asian Development Review |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=93–122 |doi=10.1142/s0116110521500098 |issn=0116-1105|doi-access=free }}

In Kerala, India, it worsened the female-to-male wage ratio between 2004 and 2012, which is one of the causes why it generated discouraged women workers. The discouraged worker effect of the wage gap was 2.6% in 2011/12 in India, which is the ratio of a 1% increase in the wage gap. This ratio of the wage gap for India exceeds the ratio for the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Gender imbalance for the participation rate is historically lower in the southern states than in the northern states. For example, the participation rate was 21% for all all-India of, whereas 25% was in Andhra Pradesh, which is in the south of India, and 14% in Uttar Pradesh, which is in the north of India. The participation rate for Kerala was 42%, which is much higher than the national average, while the rate for Uttarakhand was 21% in 2011/12. The participation rate of the labor force for women is higher in western and southern states than in central India. The participation rate is positively related to the education level. As the education level reached to graduate, the probability of labor force entry increased by 5.7% in 2011/12.

See also

=United States=

=Canada=

References

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Refbegin}}

  • Akyeampong, Ernest B. "Persons on the Margins of the Labour Force," The Labour Force (71-001). Statistics Canada, April 1987.
  • Akyeampong, Ernest B. "Women Wanting Work But Not Looking Due to Child Care Demands," The Labour Force. April 1988.
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. Persons in the Labour Force, Australia (Including Persons who Wanted Work but who were not Defined as Unemployed) (6219.0). July 1985.
  • Jackson, George. "Alternative Concepts and Measures of Unemployment," The Labour Force. February 1987.
  • Macredie, Ian. "Persons Not in the Labour Force: Job Search Activities and the Desire for Employment, September 1984," The Labour Force. October 1984.
  • Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD Employment Outlook. September 1987. Akyeampong, E.B. "Discouraged workers." Perspectives on labour and income, Quarterly, Catalogue 75-001E, Autumn 1989. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 64–69.
  • "Women wanting work, but not looking due to child care demands." The labour force, Monthly, Catalogue 71-001, April 1988. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 123–131.
  • "Persons on the margins of the labour force." The labour force, Monthly, Catalogue 71-001, April 1987. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 85–131.
  • Frenken, H. "The pension carrot: incentives to early retirement." Perspectives on labour and income, Quarterly, Catalogue 75-001E, Autumn 1991. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 18–27.
  • Jackson, G. "Alternative concepts and measures of unemployment." The labour force, Monthly, Catalogue 71-001, February 1987. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 85–120.
  • Macredie, I. "Persons not in the labour force - job search activities and the desire for employment, September 1984." The labour force, Monthly, Catalogue 71-001, October 1984. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, pp. 91–104.

{{Refend}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite journal|last=Blundell|first=Richard |author2=J. Ham |author3=Costas Meghir|date=Jan 1998|title=Unemployment, discouraged workers and female labour supply |journal=Research in Economics|volume=52|issue=2|pages=103–131|url=http://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/457|doi=10.1006/reec.1997.0158|citeseerx=10.1.1.638.3829 }}
  • {{Cite book|last=Hussmanns |first=Ralf |author2=Farhad Mehran|author3=Vijaya Varmā|others=International Labour Office|title=Surveys of economically active population, employment, unemployment, and underemployment: an ILO manual on concepts and methods|publisher=International Labour Organization|year=1990|edition=2|series=illustrated|isbn=978-92-2-106516-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EzGnLktWJGwC}}

=United States=

  • [http://www.bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm Discouraged workers in glossary], U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services
  • [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm Employment Situation Summary], U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services
  • [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm Alternative measures of labor underutilization], U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services
  • [http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/discouraged_worker.asp Discouraged Worker], Investopedia
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080308030019/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973773,00.html Down And Out: "Discouraged" Workers], Time magazine
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090515045759/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/actual_us_unemployment_158.html Actual U.S. Unemployment: 15.8%], The Washington Post
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090429100007/http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctjobless0419.artapr19,0,3865644.story 'Hidden Unemployment' Inflates State's Real Jobless Figures], The Hartford Courant
  • {{unfit|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090609065943/http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm389.cfm Tracking the Long-Term Unemployed and Discouraged Workers]}}, The Heritage Foundation
  • [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/ils74abs.htm Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession Issues in Labor Statistics], U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090725034459/http://william-king.www.drexel.edu/top/prin/txt/controv2/un9.html Discouraged Workers], Drexel
  • [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/17/BU239666.DTL Jobless statistics overlook many], San Francisco Chronicle
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20090508162535/http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2006/promoting.html PROMOTING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND OWNERSHIP]
  • [http://www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm Labor force characteristics], Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

=Canada=

  • [http://www.statcan.gc.ca/studies-etudes/75-001/archive/e-pdf/2283-eng.pdf Discouraged Workers]

{{employment}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Discouraged Worker}}

Category:Unemployment

Category:Employment classifications