Structural Shifts

Generaltrends

For the period 1983-88 for which the Eurostat data · can be considered relatively consistent across the six countries in our study (but see the notes on the Netherlands in the Appendix), a net increase in the nurober of part-time workers was registered. The composition of this increase, however, varies from country to country in terms of both industry and gender-mix.

National trends in the six countdes are presented in Table 7, revealing some significant national differences:

~ in West Germany the small rise in male part~time employment is concentrated (to the tune of 96%) in three sectors (other services, banking and insurance and transport and communication), while the increase in female part-timers was spread rather mote equally across

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the sectors. For the latter the most important sectors are other services, banking and insurance and trade/hotel and catering. Whilst the increase in other services and trade/hotel and catering represents a continuation of a trend which began before 1983, the increase in banking and insurance is a relatively new development. From Table 5a it will be recalled that this sector still accounted for a relatively small proportion of women part-timers in 1987, but the considerable absolute increase between 1983 and 1988 does point to a change in employers' use of part-time employment.

- In France the increase in male part-time employment is moderate but much more widely distributed across sectors than in West Germany.

Here, too, the largest share is tobe found in other services, followed by . public administration and transport and communication. As in West Germany, female part-timers are concentrated in the other services and trade/hotel and catering sectors, while, additionally, French public administration has played a much more prominent role in the rise in part-time employment than in West Germany.

- In the N etherl ands a sharp rise in part-time employment is revealed

for both men and warnen, and the gender-specific distribution of the increase across the sectors is rather pronounced: less than half of the increase formale workers occurred within the three sectors trade/ hotel and catering, other services, and banking and insurance, whereas these branches account for over 88% of the growth in part-time employment among warnen. For both sexes the relatively rapid growth of part-time employment in the banking and insurance sector is striking.

- In Belgium the data for male part-timers are not expressed as a percentage because, given the small absolute number of male part-time employment, such figures would suggest a spurious degree of precision.

Significant increases in part-time employment for men are occured in only three sectors: transport and communication, the public sector and trade/hotel and catering; in all the other branches the - already very marginal - number of male part-time employment has declined further since 1983. The distribution of the - comparatively - small increase in female part-time employment is analogaus to the French pattern:

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concentration in other services, trade/hotel and catering, and public administration. The increase is, however, more widely distributed than in the other countries.

- in the United Kingdom the increase is relatively pronounced for both sexes, concentrated, in the case of men, in the three sectors trade/hotel and catering, public administration and other services. For warnen part-timers the banking and insurance sector replaces public administration in the top three sectors. The sharp increases in trade/hotel and catering and other services, reflected in the heavy concentration of part-time employment as a whole in these two sectors ( cf. Tables 5a and 5b) was accompanied by an expansion of part-time working in banking and insurance for warnen, and public administration formen.

- Denmark, where the growth of part-time employment has been stronger among men than women, is something of a special case to the extent that both other manufacturing and other services account for a considerable proportion of the increase for both sexes; at the same time banking and insurance and trade/hotel and catering were dominant for the growth of part-time work among warnen and men respectively.

Beyond these three sectors the nurober of wome~1 part-timers fell between 1983 and 1988, while male part-time employment grew continuously.

A study of the socio-economic composition of part-time employment over the same time period reveals the following interesting changes ( cf. Tables 8a and 8b):

In all countries there has been an increase in the share of single men working part time. In Denmark the proportion of single men among male part-timers was the highest at over 80%. It was the lowest in West Germany at 46.2%. As already suggested by Table 4, this would seem to indicate a relatively high share of young men among part-time workers, a factor which is also reflected in the proportion of male part-timers still living in the parental hausehold (between 49% in the United Kingdom and 14.4% in West Germany). All three characteristics - single, under 24 and living in the parental hausehold- are correlated and confirm the view that for men, part-time employment is primarily seen as a phase in their employment biography associated with labour market entry. With the exception of West Germany the proportion of young men among male part-timers has increased rapidly in all countries.

The number of single women part-timers is also increasing, although their share of total female part-time employment is significantly below that of men (27.4% in Denmark, 26.3% in the Netherlands and 6.5% in the West Germany). The vast majority of warnen part-timers are married (up to 80

%).

Nevertheless, in absolute terms the nurober of single young women part-timers living with their parents exceeds that of men of the same category;

it seems likely that for young single women, too, labour ma:rket entry via part-time employment is common in Denmark and the Netherlands and also in France, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Since 1983 the share of women under 25 years in total female part~time employment has risen, and, for instance, amounts to 19% in the Netherlands.

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The trend towards the increasing use of part-time employment as a means of labour market entry sometimes combined with education/ training is confirmed if we look at other personal characteristics of part-time workers. Asked about their reasons for taking up apart-time job, between 11% (Belgium) and 67% (Denmark) of male part-timers answered that they were still at school or undergoing training. This group is particularly large in Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The education/training motivewas (relatively) less important for female part-time workers, although again, the absolute number of men and warnen in this category are roughly equal. Table 9 also indicates that in Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom this group of part-time workers has continued to grow in importance, while in West Germany and Belgium it is declining.

With a view to the implications of these developrnents for social policy it is of note that in all countries the share of widowed and divorced warnen in part-time employment is on the increase, as is the number of warnen (in West Germany, France and Belgium) who indicated that they are the

"head of the household",' i.e. that they are the primary or sole bread-winner7.

A number of other characteristics are also presented in Table 9. For men part-time employment for reasons of sickness or other limitations on work capacity plays a minor though not negligible role, probably mainly in the context of part-time work for older workers, although no significant differences are registered between countries with provisions for partial retirement and those without. This reason is given less frequently by warnen.

As expected, significantly morewarnen than men stated that they were not

7 A further characteristic of part-time employment revealed by Table 8a is the continued use of part-time employment above pensionable age (65 years), particularly formen. This is especially noticeable in the UK where, in 1987,22% of allmale part-timers (and 18% in West Germany) were over 65. In France, too, this category accounts for a relatively high proportion of male part-time employment. The share of older women among female patt-timers, on the other band, is rather low, although in absolute terms approximately the samenurober of men and women over 65 are still working part time.

interested in full-time employrnent at present. A simil~r picture ernerged from answers to the question whether respondents had been unable to find full-time employment. Both questions are often taken as a measure of the voluntary or involuntary nature of part-time employment. It was to be expected that male and female responses to these questions would differ9

that warnen would indicate that they had not been looking for a full-time job, that their share of "involuntary" part-time employment was lower.

Whether these indicators are considered as a suitable measure of free-will in this matter ( cL OECD 1990), or, only as an indicator of subjective attitudes to part-time employment and the situation on the labour market as a whole, marked differences between the countries stand out: Belgium is the country with the highest proportion of male and female part-time workers who view their part-time status as a second best solution (1988:

48% of men and 33.6% of warnen), in which context it should be recalled that Belgium has the lowest part-time employment share of all the countries. The Belgium government has initiated a number of programmes to make part-time employment attractive to both full-time workers and (which may weil be important in this context) the unemployed. It is plausible that the combination of a low part-time employment share with massive labour market programmes to stimulate part-time employment produces the observed "involuntary" nature of part-time employment or, the "dissatisfaction" with the part-time status.

In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, in which part-time employment has expanded rapidly in recent years, women do not appear to be "dissatisfied" to the same degree as in Belgium. 67% in the United Kingdom and 40% in the Netherlands stated that they did not want a

full-·. time Job; the figures for Denmark and West Germany are similarly high.

The proportion of warnen in the United Kingdom and West Germany who indicated that they could not find a full-time job were low1 although the absolute numbers involved - 186 000 in West Germany and 308 000 in the United Kingdom - are considerable. In both countries the absolute values have been rising since 1985, whereas there has been a slight decline in relative terms .. Overall, the data from these survey questions must be treated with some caution, particularly in view ofthelarge proportion who

did not response to all or some of the questions. For .this reason it was decided not to pursue their interpretation further ( cf. on this matter OECD 1990).

Table 10 summarises the responses of part-timers to the question of whether, at the time the survey was conducted, they were seeking alternative employment and, if so, why. The major finding is that the vast majority are not looking for another job. This is true of both sexes but rather more so for warnen. Partial exceptions to this are France and Belgium where, in 1.988, some 30% of male part-timers were seeking alternative employment. The main reason given being that part-time employment was seen as a temporary form of employment and that they were looking for a job with better working conditions. Comparing the results in Table 9 (full-time employment not found) and Table 10, there appears to be some discrepancy in the case of Belgium: although almost 50% of male part-timers reported that they had been unable to find full-time employment, only 30% were seeking alternative employment. This too can be interpreted as resulting from the subjective views of the labour market situation held by the workers affected.

Between 3% and 1.5% of women part-timers are looking for a different job: again in France and Belgium this is a consequence of the view of part-time work as a temporary form of employment, whereas as in West Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Denmark dissatisfaction with working conditions is relatively important, and increasingly so (with a rising share between 1983 and 1988). Indeed, with the exception of Denmarkthis reason is also gaining in importance with male part-timers.

This can be interpreted as an indication that the wishes of part-ti.me workers and the reality of their employment are drifting apart. This could be the result of two distinct developments: firstly that the part-time employment on offer are less well suited to the requirements of workers, or secondly that in 1.988 more part-time workers than previously believed that they could find a better job than their current place of employment. If valid the latter explanation suggests that the growth in part-time

employment means that the chances of finding a job w.ith better working conditions are seen as being more favourable.

Table 11 shows the employment shares of workers on permanent and fixed-term contracts. The classification of reasons given in the Labour Force Surveys for fixed~term employment among part-time workers is not comprehensive, rendering an exact interpretation difficult. The major conclusion which can be drawn is that in all countdes part-time workers, particularly men? are more than proportionately likely tobe on fixed-term contract. In France and Belgium the primary reason given is the use of

"training contracts" whereas in the United Kingdom and Denmark a relatively large nurober of male part-timers also indicate that they prefer to work on a fixed-term basis. Training contracts are, in relative terms, not so important for warnen, although the absolute figures are similar for both sexes. Fernale respondents ofteil reported that permanent contracts were not available, but again in Denmark and the United Kingdom fixed-term contracts appear relatively often to match employee preferences.