DP1626 Multiple Job Holding as a 'Hedge' Against Unemployment

Author(s): David Bell , Robert A Hart , Robert E Wright

Publication Date: April 1997

Keyword(s): Job Insecurity , Labour Supply , Multiple Job-holding , Unemployment

JEL(s): J23

Programme Areas: Human Resources

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1626.asp

This paper explores a possible link between job security and multiple job-holding in the United Kingdom. It is argued that an individual may hold a second job if they believe that their primary job has a high risk of termination. The reason is that holding a second job may cushion the financial impact of losing the main source of earnings, especially if there is scope for increasing the number of hours worked in the second job. Data from four waves of the British Household Panel Study are used to test this hypothesis. The empirical analysis provides (at best) very weak evidence in support of hedging behaviour of this type.