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MONDAY, APRIL 25, 1988
(G)
THERE WERE 112,300 EMPLOYED PERSONS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1987 WHO WORKED LESS THAN 35 HOURS PER WEEK AND CLAIMED THAT THEY WERE AVAILABLE FOR ADDITIONAL WORK. OF THESE, 28,500 WORKED SHORT HOURS BECAUSE OF SLACK WORK OR BECAUSE THEY COULD FIND ONLY PART-TIME WORK.
THEY WERE, BY DEFINITION, UNDEREMPLOYED AND THEREFORE REPRESENT A SUPPLY OF ADDITIONAL LABOUR, IN TERMS OF MORE HOURS OF WORK.
REASONS. THEY
(H) THE REMAINING 83,800 OF THE 112,300 PERSONS VOLUNTARILY
WORKED SHORT HOURS BECAUSE OF NON-ECONOMIC WERE NOT, BY DEFINITION, UNDEREMPLOYED BUT THEY CLAIMED TO BE AVAILABLE FOR ADDITIONAL WORK.
(1)
IF THEY WERE PREPARED TO WORK EXTRA HOURS, THEY COULD BE REGARDED AS A FORM OF MARGINAL LABOUR THAT MAY BE DRAWN.
THERE WERE 19,900 ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE PERSONS WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE UP JOBS IF THEY WERE OFFERED SUITABLE EMPLOYMENT.
THESE PEOPLE MAY REPRESENT A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF ADDITIONAL LABOUR, SUBJECT ΤΟ CERTAIN MAJOR CONDITIONS BEING MET. ABOUT 78 PER CENT OF THEM WERE MARRIED FEMALES.
OF THEM, 15,500 CLAIMED FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS AS THE MAIN CONSIDERATION TAKING UP JOBS; ANOTHER 13,900 WOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE UP JOBS IF THEIR CHILDREN COULD BE TAKEN CARE OF.
ABOUT 7,600 WOULD TAKE UP JOBS IF PAY WAS HIGH ENOUGH FOR THEM.
THUS, EVEN THOUGH THE NUMBER OF PERSONS WHO VOLUNTARILY WORKED SHORT HOURS BUT CLAIMED TO BE AVAILABLE FOR ADDITIONAL WORK, AND OF PERSONS WHO WERE ECONOMICALLY INACTIVE BUT WILLING ΤΟ TAKE UP JOBS UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS, MAY APPEAR LARGE IN ABSOLUTE TERMS, UNDER THE PREVAILING TIGHT LABOUR MARKET CONDITIONS THE ADDITIONAL LABOUR RESOURCES THAT CAN BE TAPPED FROM SUCH GROUPS ARE LIKELY TO LIMITED.
BE
MOREOVER, MANY OF THESE RESOURCES MAY ONLY BE USED IN EXISTING JOBS OR FOR FILLING PART-TIME JOBS, RATHER THAN MEETING ADDITIONAL FULL-TIME JOB VACANCIES.
OF THE
THE GENERAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED ON A SAMPLE POPULATION. A TOTAL OF 13,818 HOUSEHOLDS WAS SUCCESSFULLY ENUMERATED IN THE SURVEY. THE RESPONSE RATE WAS 99. 5 PER
CENT. SOME 38,664 PERSONS AGED 15 AND ABOVE WERE INTERVIEWED.
/AS THE
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