The Rise and Fall of Underemployment A new brief, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on underemployment was released today.
Compelling theory and a growing body of empirical research point toward a relationship between underemployment and reduced health and well-being, particularly when such underemployment is involuntary.
The brief summarizes the literature to date regarding links between underemployment and various health outcomes, identifies research gaps, and draws implications for post-pandemic policies that would both help
curb underemployment and mitigate its health effects.
Although working less than the desired number of hours leads to both economic hardship and psychological distress, it is possible for these effects to be reversed when a person moves out of underemployment.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking
content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
