Labour and housing market precarity: What is the impact of time-related underemployment?

Abstract

Though unemployment has long been recognised as a threat to housing security, the impact of time-related underemployment remains neglected. This article takes an integrated approach, linking unemployment and underemployment within the context of a household analysis of housing insecurity. It draws on panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and deploys an innovative measure that differentiates households in terms of employment hours deficits. The results confirm a significant relationship between total employment hours deficits within the household and housing payment arrears and reinforce the importance of integrating time-related underemployment into labour market and housing analysis.