The objective of this paper is to identify the effect of education on young workers' time-related underemployment as well as analysing whether education has been a defence mechanism against the recent crisis. Especially relevant is the analysis regarding field of study, which has not been addressed in the underemployment literature. Using data from the Spanish Labour Force Survey 2006-2014, bivariate probit selection models are estimated for three different periods. This methodology enables to analyse the evolution of underemployment among young people, simultaneously considering their probability of employment. The results indicate that underemployment is negatively related to education level for each period and tertiary education has smoothed the negative effect of the recession. Moreover, those specialisations that provide students with specific and work-oriented skills (sciences, technology and health) help workers avoid underemployment and enable them to handle the recession better. Conversely, more generally oriented fields (education, and arts and humanities) are associated with a higher probability of underemployment. Similar patterns have been found regarding unemployment, indicating education plays a similar role in both working time shortages.