ABSTRACT
The social meanings of employment and unemployment and their sociological implications change as their relative ratios change. The most influential early sociologists and social scientists explicitly identified work and employment as central to an understanding of industrial societies, both for understanding social action and in explaining social change. R. E. Pahl explored J. Gershuny's hypothesis that the informal economy appears to be supplanting its formal equivalent in post-industrial society with consumption of material goods merely a means towards private production and provision of services within the home and community. Various ad hoc surveys have investigated particular issues such as women's labour force participation, job training and labour mobility. The most enduring division between workers, whether employed or not, is the sexual division of labour. Research on the impact of unemployment merges uncomfortably with work on deskilling in employment and dual and segmented labour markets to depict increasing inequalities and growing polarization within the labour market.
