One million Australians want more hours of work

94% of these 1 million people usually worked part-time, but would prefer more hours.

File photo Source: AAP

One million Australians want more hours of work, according to the latest results from the ABS' Participation, Job Search and Mobility Survey.

In February 2016 there were one million underemployed workers.

Out of these 945,400 worked part-time.

A further 76,700 usually worked full-time, but worked part-time in the reference week due to economic reasons, such as being stood down or insufficient work being available.

"Around 34 per cent of underemployed part-time workers aged 15–19 had experienced insufficient work for one year or more; this was compared to 56 per cent aged 45 years and over," said Jacqui Jones, Program Manager of Labour and Income Branch from the ABS.

The average preferred number of extra hours per week for underemployed part-time workers was 13.5 hours. 

Females made up 60 per cent of all underemployed part-time workers.

"Of the underemployed part-time workers, 551,700 had a non-school qualification. Of these, 37 per cent had a bachelor degree or higher," said Ms Jones.

Visit ABS website for detailed analysis.