IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v143y2019i1d10.1007_s11205-018-1976-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Underemployment-Job Satisfaction Nexus: A Study of Part-Time Employment in Australia

Author

Listed:
  • T. Kifle

    (University of Queensland)

  • P. Kler

    (Griffith University)

  • S. Shankar

    (Australian National University)

Abstract

This study investigates the association between underemployment and job satisfaction among part-time workers across the period 2002–2014, given that both are increasingly important phenomena within the Australian labour market, and currently under-researched. We delve deeper into this nexus by extending the focus of job satisfaction beyond overall job satisfaction, including another five workplace satisfaction domains. This is done to see if the association is sensitive to specific aspects of work. We find that being underemployed is negatively associated with job satisfaction, across all workplace satisfaction domains. Further, we find that the underemployment-job satisfaction nexus to be somewhat gendered. Specifically, we report that underemployed males have a greater negative association with job satisfaction relative to their female peers. These results suggest that part-time underemployment is a significant (amounting to around 94% of the entire underemployed people in Australia) but well-hidden issue within the Australian labour market, and the consequence of this for job satisfaction are pronounced.

Suggested Citation

  • T. Kifle & P. Kler & S. Shankar, 2019. "The Underemployment-Job Satisfaction Nexus: A Study of Part-Time Employment in Australia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 233-249, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:143:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1976-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1976-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-018-1976-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-018-1976-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roger Wilkins, 2004. "The Extent and Consequences of Underemployment in Australia," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n16, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    2. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2012. "The Job Satisfaction-Productivity Nexus: A Study Using Matched Survey and Register Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(2), pages 244-262, April.
    3. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2011. "Anticipation, Free-Rider Problems, and Adaptation to Trade Unions: Re-Examining the Curious Case of Dissatisfied Union Members," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(5), pages 1000-1019, October.
    4. Mark Wooden & Diana Warren & Robert Drago, 2009. "Working Time Mismatch and Subjective Well‐being," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 147-179, March.
    5. Alison L. Booth & Jan C. Van Ours, 2008. "Job Satisfaction and Family Happiness: The Part‐Time Work Puzzle," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(526), pages 77-99, February.
    6. Sousa-Poza, Alfonso & Sousa-Poza, Andres A., 2007. "The effect of job satisfaction on labor turnover by gender: An analysis for Switzerland," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 895-913, December.
    7. Boyce, Christopher J., 2010. "Understanding fixed effects in human well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-16, February.
    8. A. Sousa-Poza & A. A. Sousa-Poza, 2003. "Gender differences in job satisfaction in Great Britain, 1991-2000: permanent or transitory?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(11), pages 691-694.
    9. Roger Wilkins, 2006. "Personal and Job Characteristics Associated with Underemployment," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 9(4), pages 371-393, December.
    10. Alfonso Sousa‐Poza & Andrés A. Sousa‐Poza, 2000. "Taking Another Look at the Gender/Job‐Satisfaction Paradox," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 135-152, May.
    11. Clark, Andrew E., 1997. "Job satisfaction and gender: Why are women so happy at work?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 341-372, December.
    12. Sarah Brown & J. Sessions & Duncan Watson, 2007. "The contribution of hour constraints to working poverty in Britain," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(2), pages 445-463, April.
    13. P. J. Sloane & H. Williams, 2000. "Job Satisfaction, Comparison Earnings, and Gender," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 14(3), pages 473-502, September.
    14. Christopher Ambrey & Jennifer Ulichny & Christopher Fleming, 2017. "The Social Connectedness and Life Satisfaction Nexus: A Panel Data Analysis of Women in Australia," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 1-32, April.
    15. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Nicolai Kristensen, 2008. "Work environment satisfaction and employee health: panel evidence from Denmark, France and Spain, 1994–2001," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 9(1), pages 51-61, February.
    16. T. Kifle & P. Kler & S. Shankar, 2014. "The power of the pram: do young children determine female job satisfaction?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 289-292, March.
    17. Bruce Headey & Ruut Veenhoven & Alex Wearing, 1991. "Top-down versus bottom-up theories of subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 81-100, February.
    18. Anna Cristina D'Addio & Tor Eriksson & Paul Frijters, 2007. "An analysis of the determinants of job satisfaction when individuals' baseline satisfaction levels may differ," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(19), pages 2413-2423.
    19. Andrew E. Clark, 1996. "Job Satisfaction in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 189-217, June.
    20. Jinjing Li & Alan Duncan & Riyana Miranti, 2015. "Underemployment among Mature-Age Workers in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 91(295), pages 438-462, December.
    21. T. Kifle & P. Kler & S. Shankar, 2014. "Are women really that happy at work? Australian evidence on the 'contented female'," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(7), pages 686-697, March.
    22. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    23. Anthea Long, 2005. "Happily Ever After? A Study of Job Satisfaction in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(255), pages 303-321, December.
    24. Tsang, Mun Chiu, 1987. "The impact of underutilization of education on productivity: A case study of the U.S. Bell companies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 239-254, June.
    25. Keith A. Bender & John S. Heywood, 2006. "Job Satisfaction Of The Highly Educated: The Role Of Gender, Academic Tenure, And Earnings," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 53(2), pages 253-279, May.
    26. Christopher M. Fleming & Parvinder Kler, 2014. "Female overeducation, job satisfaction and the impact of children at home in Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 143-155.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adolfo C. Fernández Puente & Nuria Sánchez-Sánchez, 2021. "How Gender-Based Disparities affect Women’s Job Satisfaction? Evidence from Euro-Area," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 137-165, July.
    2. Jeremiah Thomas Brown & Marcus Banks & Dina Bowman, 2020. "From me to us: Strengthening our Financial Capabilities," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 39(4), pages 407-417, December.
    3. Mark Wooden, 2021. "Job Characteristics and the Changing Nature of Work," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 494-505, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. T. Kifle & P. Kler & S. Shankar, 2017. "Underemployment and its impact on job satisfaction: An Australian study on part-time employment," Discussion Papers in Economics economics:201712, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    2. Adolfo C. Fernández Puente & Nuria Sánchez-Sánchez, 2021. "How Gender-Based Disparities affect Women’s Job Satisfaction? Evidence from Euro-Area," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 137-165, July.
    3. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2022. "Revisiting the gender job satisfaction paradox: The roots seem to run deep," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 278-323, June.
    4. Nandi, Alita & L. Bryan, Mark, 2015. "Working hours, work identity and subjective wellbeing," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-21, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Patrice Laroche, 2016. "A Meta-Analysis of the Union–Job Satisfaction Relationship," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 709-741, December.
    6. Anthea Long, 2005. "Happily Ever After? A Study of Job Satisfaction in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(255), pages 303-321, December.
    7. Colin Peter Green & John Spencer Heywood & Parvinder Kler & Gareth Leeves, 2016. "Paradox lost," Working Papers 107134075, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    8. Possenriede, Daniel & Plantenga, Janneke, 2014. "Temporal and Locational Flexibility of Work, Working-Time Fit, and Job Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 8436, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Romina Gambacorta & Maria Iannario, 2013. "Measuring Job Satisfaction with CUB Models," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(2), pages 198-224, June.
    10. Perugini, Cristiano & Vladisavljević, Marko, 2019. "Gender inequality and the gender-job satisfaction paradox in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 129-147.
    11. Werner Bönte & Stefan Krabel, 2014. "You can't always get what you want: gender differences in job satisfaction of university graduates," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(21), pages 2477-2487, July.
    12. Vicente Royuela & Jordi Suriñach, 2013. "Quality of Work and Aggregate Productivity," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 37-66, August.
    13. Mark Wooden & Diana Warren & Robert Drago, 2009. "Working Time Mismatch and Subjective Well‐being," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 147-179, March.
    14. Cristina Bernini & Alessandro Tampieri, 2023. "Much Ado about Salary: A Comparison of Monetary and Non-Monetary Components of Job Satisfaction," Working Papers - Economics wp2023_06.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    15. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood & Parvinder Kler & Gareth Leeves, 2018. "Paradox Lost: The Disappearing Female Job Satisfaction Premium," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(3), pages 484-502, September.
    16. Cheryl Carleton & Mary T. Kelly, 2016. "Alternative Work Arrangements and Job Satisfaction," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 32, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    17. Anna Fabry & Goedele Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2022. "Gender Inequality and Job Satisfaction in Senegal: A Multiple Mediation Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2291-2311, June.
    18. Paulo Aguiar Do Monte, 2011. "Job Dissatisfaction And Labour Turnover:Evidence From Brazil," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 135, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    19. Peng Nie & Lanlin Ding & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2020. "What Chinese Workers Value: An Analysis of Job Satisfaction, Job Expectations, and Labour Turnover in China," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(1), pages 85-104.
    20. Lea Sell & Bryan Cleal, 2011. "Job Satisfaction, Work Environment, and Rewards: Motivational Theory Revisited," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-23, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:143:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1976-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.