A Regional Analysis of Hidden Unemployment in Great Britain, 1951–1966

Abstract

This paper investigates the discrepancy between recorded unemployment and real unemployment in the regions of Great Britain. The study was prompted in part by the numerous attempts made to measure hidden unemployment for the US economy (see Mincer(5)), but it differs from earlier studies on two counts. First, unlike these earlier studies, which have concentrated on measuring hidden cyclical unemployment, an attempt is made here to explore the possibility of measuring the structural variety of hidden employment. Second, a different method has been used to calculate hidden cyclical unemployment than in earlier studies. The paper is in five parts. Part 1 examines the gap between real unemployment and recorded unemployment, and argues for a division of this gap into cyclical and structural components. The second part describes operationally useful methods of measuring hidden unemployment. In parts 3 and 4, the methods of measuring hidden unemployment are applied to the regions of Great Britain and to a sample...