Underemployment in America
America's unemployment rate may have halved since the recession, but the instability of underemployment is rocking workers unable to find a full time job. PBS investigate the struggle of the part-timers.
A growing part of the modern workforce are being classed as underemployed. "Most jobs will not even hire you for a full 40 hours... I need 40 hours", says 54 year-old Illinois native Ronald Jackson. "My schedule was all over the place. Between 32 to 40 hours at McDonald's. Lane Bryant I wanna say 20 hours...", says retail worker Laymondra Brewer-Thomas. She recently found steady work through a public-private employment initiative - Skills for Chicagoland's Future - but many are not so lucky. In Illinois 10.3% are struggling to piece together a wage from erratic part-time employment. "There is nothing but insecurity. You can't feel comfortable at any point with the hours you've been assigned or the income you've earned", says labour and employment relations professor, Bob Bruno.
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