Underemployment affects 1 in 10 workers, ONS says The highest number of underemployed workers were in occupations including cleaners, caterers, labourers and school crossing assistants. Photograph: Shout/Rex The recession has forced an extra 1 million people into working fewer hours than they want, with a quarter of those in part-time roles saying they want to work longer each week, official figures show. The unemployment rate has remained low compared with previous recessions, but figures on underemployment from the Office for National Statistics indicate this is a result of people taking on more part-time roles. The number of underemployed workers remained flat in the years before the recession, but between 2008 and 2012 it rocketed from 2.07 million to 3.05 million, with almost two-thirds in part-time jobs, figures based on the ONS's annual Labour Force Survey showed. During this period, many workers moved from full-time to part-time roles, and many of those returning to work after a period of unemployment could only find part-time jobs. In 2012, 24% of part-time workers wanted to work more hours, compared with just 5.5% of full-time workers, meaning part-time workers were more than four times more likely to be underemployed than those in full-time posts. In total, one in 10 workers are currently underemployed. Occupations with the highest number of underemployed workers included cleaners, caterers, labourers and school crossing assistants. The TUC's general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: "Around 2.5 million across the UK are currently out of work, but this figure only tells half the story. Taking any job available, even if it meant lower pay and fewer hours, was a pragmatic response to the recession. The fact the number of underemployed people continues to grow shows just how weak our recovery is, and how fragile the labour market remains. Barber added that long periods of underemployment can cause "longer-term career damage" and called for "proper investment in high quality jobs so that full-time work is available for those who want it." The highest underemployment rates were in the East Midlands, Yorkshire & the Humber, the north-east and the south-west, where more than 10% of workers wanted to work more hours. But the biggest increase in underemployment between 2008 and 2012 has been in Yorkshire & the Humber, indicating it is the region where the recession has hit households hardest. Len McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite union, said: "People want to work, but increasingly face a merry-go-round of insecure, low paid, part-time work." Underemployed part-time workers were also hit by a change in the working tax credit in April 2012. Before then a couple with children were eligible for the working tax credit, worth £3,870 a year, if one partner worked at least 16 hours; but after April 2012 it was only possible to continue receiving the credit if the couple jointly worked at least 24 hours, with one partner working at least 16. With the working tax credit worth about £74 a week to cash-strapped households, the changes either forced couples to seek more hours in low-paid employment - at a time when many low-paid sectors, such as retailing, are contracting - or consider giving up work altogether.