People with disability in Australia

Introduction

People are considered underemployed if they work part time but wish to work more hours. People with disability are more likely to work part time (41% or 403,000 of those with disability aged 15–64 and employed) than people without disability (32% or 3.6 million) (see ‘Working full time or part time’ for more information). While for many people part-time work is the preferred choice, others may wish to work more hours for reasons of financial security, better leave entitlements, or improved career opportunities.

Underemployment rate

About 1 in 10 (10% or 99,000) people aged 15–64 with disability who are employed want to work more hours than they do and are available to start soon, compared with around 1 in 14 (6.9% or 773,000) without disability (Figure UNDEREMPLOYMENT.1).

People aged 15–24 with disability are more likely than people with disability of other ages to want to and be available to work more hours – 23% (or 27,000) are underemployed, compared with 8.1% (or 71,000) of those aged 25–64 (Figure UNDEREMPLOYMENT.1).

Similarly, females are more likely than males to be underemployed – 13% (or 62,000) for females aged 15–64 with disability want to work more hours and are available to do so, compared with 7.8% (or 39,000) of males (Figure UNDEREMPLOYMENT.1).

Finally, underemployment among people with disability also varies by disability group. Nearly 1 in 6 people with intellectual disability (17% or 18,000) are underemployed compared with 1 in 17 (5.8% or 12,000) people with sensory and speech disability (ABS 2019).

Figure UNDEREMPLOYMENT.1: Underemployment rate for employed people, by disability status and severity, sex and age group, 2018

Notes:
* Relative standard error of 25–50% and should be used with caution.

1. A person is considered to be underemployed if they are employed, usually work 34 hours or less per week, would like a job with more hours, and are available to start work with more hours if offered a job in the next 4 weeks.
2. Restricted to employed people aged 15–64 living in households.
3. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source data tables: Data tables – Underemployment. View data tables

Not wanting to work more hours

Many people with disability who are employed part time (34 hours per week or less) are satisfied with the number of hours they work. Among employed people with disability aged 15–64, almost 3 in 10 (28% or 277,000) work part time and do not want a job with more hours. This is higher than for employed people without disability in the same age group (23% or 2.6 million) (ABS 2019).

Females are twice as likely to be working part time and to not want a job with more hours as males – almost 2 in 5 (38% or 182,000) employed females with disability aged 15–64 are working part time and do not want a job with more hours, compared with 1 in 5 (19% or 93,000) of their male counterparts (ABS 2019).

Similarly, younger people are more likely to work part time and to want to keep their work hours – 38% (or 44,000) of employed people with disability aged 15–24 work part time and do not wish to increase their hours, compared with 27% (or 231,000) of those aged 25–64 (ABS 2019). Finally, people with intellectual disability (37% or 39,000) or psychosocial disability (36% or 60,000) are more likely to want to retain their part-time hours than those with sensory and speech disability (24% or 48,000) (ABS 2019).

It should be noted that groups that are more likely to be employed part time – females compared with males, people aged 15–24 compared with those aged 25–64, and people with certain disability types – were found to be more likely to both be underemployed and to be satisfied with their part-time hours.

Reasons for not wanting to work more hours

For people aged 15–64 who are working part time and do not wish to work more hours, the most common reason for this was ‘No need/satisfied with current arrangements/retired (for now)’. This reason was reported by 49% (or 137,000) of those with disability and 52% (or 1.4 million) of those without (Table UNDEREMPLOYMENT.1). Other common reasons were:

• short-term illness or injury or long-term health condition or disability (29% or 80,000 with disability, compared with 1.2% or 32,000 without disability)
• home duties or caring for child(ren) (14% or 40,000 with disability, compared with 24% or 638,000 without disability)  
• studying/returning to studies for those without disability (11% or 31,000 with disability, compared with 26% or 684,000 without disability) (ABS 2019).

Notes:

1. Restricted to people aged 15–64 living in households who are employed, usually work 34 hours or less per week and would not like a job with more hours.
2. ‘Other’ includes permanently retired / will not work again, welfare payments / pension / allowance may be affected, moving house, taking holidays, pregnancy, and other reason.
3. More than one reason for not wanting to work more hours may be reported.
4. Figures are rounded and underwent ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.

Source: ABS 2019; see also Table UNDT4, Data tables­ – Underemployment. View data tables