Distribution by Sector

Referring this last statement back on to the sector-structure discussed earlier, the interesting question is whether the rapidly expanding area of private services has made use of low volume part-time labour to a different degree in different countries, or whether a uniform pattern, based on common features of the service sector in all countries, can be identified.

The distribution of "short" part-time employment between sectors is similar to that of part-time employment as a whole: industries with a low part-time employment share tend not to employ large numbers of low volume (1-10 or 11-15 hours per week) part-timers. Nevertheless, a number of interesting features deserve mention ( cf. Table 14 ):

for men low volume part-time employment is concentrated in trade/hotel and catering (United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark) or in other services (West Germany, France, Belgium). For women, on the other band, in all countdes other services have the highest proportion of low volume employment. This provides further evidence of a gender-specific division of the labour market, whereby the division of low-volume part-time employment is less pronounced in

employrnent are also to be found in transport and communications, other manufacturing and banking. For women the concentration of low-volume employment in other services is so high in France (for both time categories) and in Belgium (11-15 hour group) that all other sectors have less than proportional shares.

These observations can be presented from a slightly different perspective, namely the proportion of the different hour-categories in each sector (Tables 15a and 15b ). This form of differentiation by hour-category reveals the following features and trends:

- for men the sectoral distribution is the following: in Denmark low volume, part-time work is predominant in all sectors except chemieals and public administration. In the United Kingdom almost 70% of thge part-timers work on a low volume basis in trade/hotel and catering, whereas such forms of part-time work are uncommon in construction, energy /water and public administration. In the N etherlands the picture is rather different, with high low-volume employment shares in trade/hotel and catering, transport/ communication and construction, contrasting with low values for public administration and other services.

In Belgium, France and West Germany the proportion of men on low-volume contracts is rather low, although they are to be found in all sectors; such concentration as exists is in other services (France, Belgium), other manufacturing (Belgium, West Germany) and engineering (West Germany).

- for women, over 60% of whom work "long" parttime in West Germany, Belgium, France and Denmark, the following branches have more than average shares of low volume employment: other services (West Germany, France, Belgium), banking and insurance (West Germany, Belgium, Denmark), construction (France, Belgium), trade/hotel and catering (Denmark).

The conclusion to be drawn from this is that there are both country and sector-specific differences at work here which cannot be clearly distinguished. Tbe concentration of "sbort" part-time employment in particular sector is greater in some countdes tban that of part-time employment as a wbole, wbile in otbers it is more evenly distributed. In any case, analysis of tbe internal working time structure of individual sectors indicates tbat tbe relation is not as clear-cut as bad been assumed.

As a consequence two assumptions must be revised. Firstly, tbe view tbat brancbes wbicb bave made most intensive use of part-time employment bave done so to a disproportionately great extent in tbe "unprotected"

segment does not apply to all countries. Secondly, in absolute terms the rise in part-time employment as a wbole has been accompanied by an expansion of "short" part-time employment only in tbe United Kingdom and tbe Netberlands (andin Denmark among men only).

Tbe question is tben wbetber tbe inclusion of part-time workers into the protection of labour law and social security acts as an incentive or disincentive for tbe supply and the demand of part-time work. Tbe different national regulations on one band and tbe quite different sbares of part-time employment witbin the countdes labour forces on tbe other does not allow simple answers. Tbe lower costs of employing part-time labour, in terms of pay and entitlements, seems nottobe a major incentive in all sectors and national economies. Employers report that skill or labour sbortages, lower bourly requirements of the job itself and in response to tim es of peak labour demand are more decisive factors ( cf.

Drew 1990). A comparative study of part-time working in Sweden, tbe Netberlands and the United Kingdom (cf. Hurstfield 1987) bas sbown tbat despite tbe fact tbat statutory employment rigbts in Sweden apply equally to part-time and full-time workers, this bas not been at tbe expense of depressing demand for part-time labour. In anotber study (Garnsey 1984) it was sbown tbat in France the demand for part-time workers bad been sufficiently robust to override tbe additional expenses of providing part-time employees with pro rata pay and benefits, requ-ired by tbe law passed in 1982.

An economic analysis asking whether the integration .of part-time work into equal treatment concerning pay and benefits wo1:1ld increase the supply of part-time job seekers while simultaneously'li'}aising costs for employers and reducing demand for part-timers, came to the conclusion, that there was no economic evidence to suggest that part .. time employment would be negatively affected by increasing some costs for employers ( cf.

Disney /Szyszczak 1973 ).

Our results point to two conclusions:

- there seems to be some evidence that employers use part~time work in general and "short" part-time work in particular as a means of gaining flexibility. Labour law regulations that include part~time work in the general regulations channel the use of part-time work into a certain framework, but they do not prohibit it. On the other hand labour law regulations in certain countries allow a greater degree of flexible use of part-time employment. This seems to be the case in the N etherlands and in the United Kingdom.

the. different patterns of part-time employment growth in the s1x . countdes and its gender-specific distribution points to the fact, that male and female part-time employees have different positions on the labour market: "Short" part-time work seems to be an employment relation increasing especially among young men, whilst "long" part-time work is more common among warnen. As shown before, part-time employment has different meanings for young men and warnen in general. For the first it is more a entry path to employment or a student's job, for warnen it's the normal employment affered during the working career. Different systems of labour law and social security do not of themselves explain the different shares of "short"and "long" part-time work, as can be seen when comparing West Germany and the United Kingdom.

A study conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Warking Conditions in Dublin (cf. ES-News 1990) seems to confirm that employers' interests in part-time work are not primarily a result of incentives associated with the social security contributions.

Only in Great Bdtain nearly 47% of all employers. claimed, that the cost-effectiveness of part~time jobs due to lower social secudty contributions is the main reason for using part-time employment. In other countdes the percentage was lower, araund 10% to 25%.