MYTHS AND COUNTER-MYTHS: AN ANALYSIS OF PART-TIME FEMALE EMPLOYEES AND THEIR ORIENTATIONS TO WORK AND WORKING HOURS

Abstract

The nature and character of the part-time workforce has been at the forefront of recent controversies about women's employment. Drawing on new data on the characteristics, attitudes and preferences of over one thousand female part-time employees, this study highlights important diversities amongst the part-time workforce. The results show that the women in the sample had gravitated to part-time work from a range of different employment backgrounds, and for a variety of motivations. While the majority of the women workers were content with their current part-time work arrangements, a significant minority wished to change their employment status to full-time work and a substantial number of part-time women workers wanted to return to full-time work in the future. The research examines the characteristics of such women, and argues that the stereotyping of the part-time workforce as universally ‘home-centred’ or committed to the ‘marriage career’ is misplaced.