What is employment and underemployment?What are their effects to a person’s health?

EMPLOYMENT"Employment" is not a simple term denoting the

mere holding of a job for which a wage is paid, or the operating of one’s own busi ness. Rather, it signifies the state of anyone who is doing what, under the circumstances, he most wants to do. 

Employment is an agreement between an employer and an employee that the employee will provide certain services on the job, and in the employer's designated workplace, to facilitate the accomplishment of the employer organization’s goals and mission, in return for compensation. The agreement can be verbal, implied, or an official employment contract.

Effect/s to a person’s health:

• Depression• Psychological distress • General Mental Health• Psychiatric Morbidity• General Physical Health

Functioning and effects

UNDEREMPLOYMENTUnderemployment occurs when one does not have a job that

is full-time or that reflects his or her training and financial needs. It may be most affected by the number of youthful workers in the labor force, who tend to experience more underemployment as they change jobs and move in and out of the labor force, and public policies that may discourage employment or the creation of jobs (such as a high minimum wage, high unemployment benefits, and low opportunity costs associated with laying off workers).

A situation in which a worker is employed, but not in the desired capacity, whether in terms of compensation, hours, or level of skill and experience. “ In our current economy underemployment is prevalent because many educated and skilled people are not employed in a capacity that they desire. ”

Effects to a person’s health:

• Depression• Life satisfaction• Self-esteem• Physical health

……………………………..• People who are underemployed report less functional

health than do adequately employed workers.• ……………..the mechanisms connecting the

employment experiences such as over-education to mental health are not universal, and they vary by gender.• ……………the loss of a job or the threat of losing a job is

detrimental to health. The type of job a person has and the working conditions he or she is exposed to will also affect health.

Thank You

Reference/s• http://fee.org/freeman/detail/what-is-employment• http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarye/g/

employment-job.htm• http://www.investorwords.com/5835/underemployment.html• http://www.publichealth.ie/files/file/

IPH_Employment_Health_24pp.pdf• http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=1648&context=etd• http://www.isr.umich.edu/src/seh/mprc/PDFs/

Friedland2003.pdf