Attitudes and Hours of Work

Abstract

One of the most important developments in women’s increased labour forces participation, as we noted in the introduction, has been the increase in part-time work. In Britain part-time work has increased much more than in most other industrialised countries, although a similar trend is visible elsewhere. Over 80 per cent of part-time employees in Britain are women. The reasons for the increase in part-time work are not well understood and especially why Britain has seen a more marked increase in this than the rest of Europe. Studies of part-time work are beginning to increase since it is such a widespread phenomenon; they are considering both demand and supply side reasons for the increase. Our interest will be in the extent to which women’s attitudes have been involved in their decision to work part time as part of the supply-side explanation.