The Effects of Part-Time Work on Women's Occupational Mobility in Britain: Evidence from the 1958 Birth Cohort Study

(2012) - Shirley Dex, Erzsébet Bukodi

Journal: National Institute Economic Review
Link:: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0027950100000648/type/journal_article
DOI:: 10.1177/002795011222200103
Links::
Tags:: #paper #NCDS #Gender #LabourMarket #Mobility #Transition
Cite Key:: [@dexEffectsPartTimeWork2012]

Abstract

The effects of working part time on job downgrading and upgrading are examined over the life course of British women born in 1958. We use longitudinal data with complete work histories from a large-scale nationally representative cohort study. Occupations were ranked by their hourly average earnings. Analyses show a strong link between full-time/part-time transitions and downward and upward occupational mobility over the course of up to thirty years of employment. Probabilities of occupational mobility were affected by women's personal traits, occupational characteristics and demand-side factors. Downward mobility on moving from full-time to part-time work was more likely for women at the top levels of the occupational hierarchy working in male-dominated or mixed occupations and less likely in higher occupations with more part-time jobs available.

Notes

“Probabilities of occupational mobility were affected by women’s personal traits, occupational characteristics and demandside factors. Downward mobility on moving from full-time to part-time work was more likely for women at the top levels of the occupational hierarchy working in male-dominated or mixed occupations and less likely in higher occupations with more part-time jobs available.” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 20)

“Part-time work started to grow from the 1950s in Britain and quickly became synonymous with low paid jobs, increasingly in the service sector, occupied primarily by women with children” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 20)

“demand side, employers have also found these jobs offer flexibility, to help match the working patterns of their workforce to fluctuations over the day and week in customers’ needs for service (McGregor and Sproull 1991; Hunter and MacInnes 1991; Grant et al., 2005; Tilly, 1991; Kalleberg, 2000)” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 20)

“disadvantages of working part time have also been noted: namely, a pay penalty for part-time compared with fulltime jobs in Britain and the USA (Joshi and Paci, 1998; Manning and Petrolongo, 2008; Savage, 2011; Green and Ferber, 2005)” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 20)

“Early research in Britain found that moving down the occupational scale was generally linked to taking up part-time jobs (Elias and Main, 1982; Stewart and Greenhalgh, 1984; Joshi and Newell, 1987)” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 21)

“Hawkes and Plewis’s (2006) examination of attrition and non-response found few significant predictors of non-random loss in the NCDS.” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 22)

“n summary, the linkage between full-time/part-time transitions and occupational mobility is marked, although there is some tangential evidence that changes have been taking place that may weaken these relationships” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 22)

“The analyses in this paper show evidence of a strong link between full-time/part-time transitions and the incidence of downward and upward occupational mobility over the life-course of British women born in 1958.” (Dex and Bukodi, 2012, p. 33)