Defining the Term Unemployed - Essay Example

This essay will focus on defining the term unemployed and make use of examples to explain. The word unemployed is derived from the word unemployment. Unemployment is defined based on different criteria. For the definition to be complete, the three criteria must be fulfilled. The three criteria are being “without work,” “Seeking work” and “currently available for work” Therefore the unemployed are individuals who have joined the economically active population who are “without work” in that they are neither self-employed nor in any form of paid employment. Moreover, the individuals must be “seeking work” using different strategies to secure paid employment or become self-employed. In addition, the individuals have to be “Currently available for work” in that if work was available they would take it or are willing to become self-employed.

The “without work” criterion distinguished between the employed and the unemployed and it means being in a situation where a person is lacking work or is not being employed in a specific period. Therefore, persons without work are those who have not been working during the time of reference. For example, if a person was engaged in any sort of work even if casual, during the reference period, they are considered employed. Therefore, they do not suit the definition of unemployment even if they were seeking other forms of employment.

The other criteria “currently available for work” and “seeking work” are used to distinguish the unemployed persons from the economically inactive. For example, an old person who has retired cannot be considered unemployed since they are not currently available for work and are not seeking employment. Therefore, the unemployed are those within the economically active age and lack work, are available to do work, and are seeking work (Hussmann, Mehran, and Varma 95-100).

Mankiw and Taylor (564) argue that the “unemployed person is someone who is without a job and who is willing to start work within the next two weeks and either has been looking for work within the last four weeks or was waiting to start a job.” Therefore, a person who has not been making any efforts to get a job cannot be considered unemployed. Moreover, if a person has other commitments during the period of the survey, for example pursuing academic goals, he or she cannot be considered unemployed. Those people with work and are seeking some other form of work cannot also be considered as unemployed (Mankiw and Taylor 562-565).