Underemployment is a widely discussed but complex concept. This article progresses discussions and provides a new sociological conceptualisation. It builds on a classic theory of unemployment, Jahoda et al.’s ‘latent deprivation theory’ (LDT), that identified five ‘latent functions’ provided by jobs, besides a wage: time structure, social relations, sense of purpose/achievement, personal identity and regular activity. LDT was ground-breaking in illuminating previously hidden injuries of joblessness. This article proposes that LDT can be similarly ground-breaking for reconceptualising underemployment: it demonstrates conceptually the multiple ways in which the mere existence of a job is insufficient in protecting individuals from socially and psychologically negative impacts associated with unemployment. A sociology of underemployment can help better understand complex, shifting and precarious work and expose inherent forms of suffering and injustice.

中文翻译：

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有工作比没有工作好吗？利用贾霍达的潜在剥夺理论重新定义就业不足


就业不足是一个被广泛讨论但复杂的概念。本文推进了讨论并提供了新的社会学概念。它建立在贾霍达等人的经典失业理论“潜在剥夺理论”（LDT）的基础上，该理论确定了除工资之外工作提供的五种“潜在功能”：时间结构、社会关系、目的感/成就感、个人身份和定期活动。 LDT 在揭示以前隐藏的失业伤害方面具有开创性意义。本文提出，LDT 对于重新概念化就业不足具有类似的开创性作用：它从概念上证明了仅存在工作不足以保护个人免受与失业相关的社会和心理负面影响的多种方式。就业不足的社会学有助于更好地理解复杂、多变和不稳定的工作，并揭露痛苦和不公正的内在形式。