Woman, training and work

Gender! A Partnership of Equals
Geneve: International Labour Office, 2000. 115 p.

Part-time work
A bridge or a trap?

Is part-time work a "bridge" or a "trap" in terms of labour market participation. Does it represents a marginalized form of cheap labour and precarious employment, or does it enables workers to enter paid employment or maintain continuous employment? These questions are serious crucial issues, since the overwhelming majority of part-time workers around the world are women.

The growth in part-time work has been a significant feature of recent changes in the labour market of industrialized countries, where women make up between 65% and 90% of all part-time workers. The main driving forces behind this increase in part-time work have been women's increased labour market participation, the expansion of the service sector,and the desire for flexibility among employers. In developing countries women working part-time are mostly found in the informal sector and among homeworkers.

Part-time work among women is usually triggered by motherhood, while among men it is more likely to occur at the point of labour market entry or exit. Women may choose to embrace part-time work because of flexible hours, greater compatibility with family responsibilities - of which they continue to assume the greater share - or relatively easier labour market access, but for a number of women the lack of better alternatives makes it compulsory.

Women's involvement in paid work, and particularly the extent to which motherhood involves a shift into part-time work, varies markedly between countries. Differences in social structures play a central role in accounting for international variations in behaviour regarding part-time work. The gender division of labour within the home makes women more available for part-time work than men, but state policies also structure the labour supply plans and behaviour. Therefore, the extent of part-time work depends not only on household circumstances, but also on the behaviour of enterprises, labour market policies and regulation as well as the wider welfare state regimes.

There are considerable differences between countries in the extent and form of part-time work and in the employment conditions of part-time workers. It has been argued that it is not part-time work per se which constitutes a secondary form of employment, but the accumulation of disadvantages associated with remaining in this type of employment over long periods. Missing out on training and promotion pushes these workers into a peripheral labour market in terms of qualifications and income, or lower lifetime accumulation of pension entitlements. The precarious nature of part-time employment is linked to job security and social security entitlements.

The impact of part-time work cannot be disentangled from the influence of gender and its relation to full-time employment. In some sectors, the prevalence of part-time work helps to maintain the economic subordination of women and reinforces social norms which may affect women workers, both full-time and part-time. In many countries, part-time workers are considered as casual participants in the labour market and not as prime or independent income earners. They have restricted rights to unemployment benefits, pensions and sick pay, particularly when they fail to meet earnings or hours eligibility criteria, and when combining work with other activities such as education and caring for family members. Exemption from social protection payments may increase the immediate cash income of part-time workers at the expense of losing benefit entitlements. This is a growing concern in view of the change in family structures, the increase in female-headed households and the growth in the number of single-parent families.

The ILO defines a part-time worker as "an employed person whose normal hours of work are less than normal hours of work of comparable full-time workers". But part-time work not only involves fewer hours, lower hourly rates and lower weekly remuneration than full-time work, it can also constitute a different form of employment, organized on different principles, and on different terms and conditions from full-time jobs, with less employment protection rights. The advantages which employers draw from part-time work lie primarily in the opportunities to cut out unnecessary labour hours or to reduce the use of expensive overtime labour. Policies designed to promote part-time work by lowering its cost below that of full-time employment are likely to have the perverse effect of increasing the proportion of involuntary part-time workers; i.e., underemployment, with adverse consequences, both social - especially for women and disadvantaged workers - and economic, by depressing demand, growth and employment.

In industrialized countries, some efforts have been made to reduce the gap between the two categories of workers. However, attempts to incorporate part-time workers into the regulatory system has resulted in a leveling down process; i.e., a deterioration in the employment conditions of their full-time fellow workers. This tendency has been reinforced by the simultaneous move towards increased individualization in the terms and conditions of employment.

The growing attention paid to part-time work is reflected at the international level. In 1994 the International Labour Conference adopted the Part-Time Convention (No. 175) and Recommendation (No. 182). While acknowledging the importance of productive and freely chosen employment for all workers, the economic importance of part-time work, and the need for employment policies to take into account the role of part-time work in facilitating additional employment opportunities, those international instruments address the need to ensure protection for part-time workers in the areas of access to employment, working conditions and social security. Convention 175 establishes minimum standards for part-time employment, based on the two principles of proportionality and non-discrimination.

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