Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Exploring Resources, Life-Balance and Well-Being of Women Who Work in a Global Context pp 73–91Cite as

Making the Best of a Bad Job? Women and Part-Time Work in the United Kingdom

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 810 Accesses

Abstract

Forty-two per cent of the female workforce now works part-time. Of these, many have young children, and the more children a woman has, the more likely she is to work either part-time or not at all. Although around two million men also work part-time, this is often due to an inability to gain full-time work. In spite of the high proportion of women in part-time jobs, extensive research has shown that most part-time work is offered in lower-level jobs, with low rates of pay and lower promotion prospects than full-time jobs. This chapter outlines the choices and constraints which women face in relation to paid employment and the various explanations given for women’s reliance on part-time work. We also describe the efforts made by individual women and by various organisations to improve the situation for women wishing to work part-time in better quality jobs. In so doing, we draw on evidence from the government-funded Quality Part-time Work Fund initiative.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    e.g., Routine sales and service occupations; Routine production occupations; Routine technical occupations; Routine operative occupations; Routine agricultural occupations. These positions have the least need for employee discretion and employees are regulated by a basic labour contract (ONS).

  2. 2.

    One organisation declined further involvement with the project, in spite of numerous attempts to contact the relevant project manager.

References

  • Aston, J., Clegg, M., Diplock, E., Ritchie, H., & Willison, R. (2004). Interim update of key indicators of women’s position in Britain (Institute for employment studies). London: Women and Equality Unit/Department of Trade and Industry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anxo, D., Fagan, C., Smith, M., Letablier, M. T., & Perraudin, C. (2007). Part-time work in European companies: Establishment survey on working time 2004–2005. Dublin, OH: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, D., & Blanchflower, D. (2011). Young people and the Great recession. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 27(2), 241–267. doi:10.1093/oxrep/grr011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, D., & Blanchflower, D. (2013). Underemployment in the UK revisited. National Institute Economic Review, 224(1), F8–F22. doi:10.1177/002795011322400110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biggart, L., & O’Brien, M. (2009, November). Fathers’ working hours: Parental analysis from the third work-life balance employee survey and maternity and paternity rights and benefits survey of parents. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Employment Relations Occasional Paper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth, A. L., & van Ours, J. C. (2008). Job satisfaction and family happiness: The part-time work puzzle. The Economic Journal, 118(526), F77–F99. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02117.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bovil, D. (2013). Patterns of pay: Results from the annual survey of hours and earnings, 1997 to 2012. Office for National Statistics (ONS) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_300035.pdf. Accessed 17 June 2014.

  • Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burchell, B., Dale, A., & Joshi, H. (1997). Part-time work among British women. In H. P. Blossfeld & C. Hakim (Eds.), Between equalization and marginalization: Women working part-time in Europe and the United States of America (pp. 210–246). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chalmers, J., Campbell, I., & Charlesworth, S. (2005). Part-time work and caring responsibilities in Australia: Towards an assessment of job quality. Labour and Industry, 15(3), 41–66. doi:10.1080/10301763.2005.10669317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth, S., Campbell, I., Probert, B., Allan, J., & Morgan, L. (2002). Balancing work and family responsibilities: Policy implementation options. Project summary: A report for the Department of Premier and Cabinet (Victoria) and Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development (Victoria). Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Connolly, M., & Gregory, M. (2009). The part-time pay penalty: Earnings trajectories of British women. Oxford Economic Papers, 61(1), i76–i97. doi:10.1093/oep/gpn043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crompton, R., & Lyonette, C. (2007). Are we all working too hard? Women, men, and changing attitudes to paid employment. In A. Park, J. Curtice, K. Thomson, M. Phillips, & M. Johnson (Eds.), British social attitudes: The 23rd report – Perspectives on a changing society (pp. 55–70). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crompton, R., & Lyonette, C. (2008). Mothers’ employment, work-life conflict, careers and class. In J. Scott, S. Dex, & H. Joshi (Eds.), Women and employment: Changing lives and new challenges (pp. 213–233). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darton, D., & Hurrell, K. (2005). People working part-time below their potential. Manchester, UK: Equal Opportunities Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durbin, S., & Tomlinson, J. (2010). Female part-time managers: Networks and career mobility. Work, Employment and Society, 24(4), 621–640. doi:10.1177/0950017010380631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, C., & Robinson, O. (2004). Evaluating the business case for part-time working amongst qualified nurses. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 42(1), 167–183. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8543.2004.00309.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). (2009). Financial services inquiry: Sex discrimination and gender pay gap report of the equality and human rights commission. Equality and Human Rights Commission. http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/financial-services-inquiry-report. Accessed 17 June 2014.

  • Fagan, C. (2001). Time, money and the gender order: Work orientations and worktime preferences in Britain. Gender, Work and Organisation, 8(3), 239–266. doi:10.1111/1468-0432.00131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fagan, C., Hegewisch, A., & Pillinger, J. (2006). Out of time: Why Britain needs a new approach to working-time flexibility. London: Trades Union Congress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finch, N. (2006). Gender equity and time use: How do mothers and fathers spend their time? In J. Bradshaw & A. Hatland (Eds.), Social policy, employment and family change in comparative perspective (pp. 13–36). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gash, V., Mertens, A., & Gordo, L. R. (2012). The influence of changing hours of work on women’s life satisfaction. The Manchester School, 80(1), 51–74. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9957.2011.02255.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginn, J., Arber, S., Brannen, J., Dale, A., Dex, S., Elias, P., et al. (1996). Feminist fallacies: A reply to Hakim on women’s employment. British Journal of Sociology, 47(1), 167–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, L., Yeandle, S., & Buckner, L. (2005). Working below potential: Women and part-time work (EOC working paper series no 40). Manchester, UK: Equal Opportunities Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimshaw, D., & Rafferty, A. (2011). Social impact of the crisis in the United Kingdom: Focus on gender and age inequalities. In D. Vaughan-Whitehead (Ed.), Inequalities in the world of work: The effects of the crisis (pp. 525–570). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakim, C. (1991). Grateful slaves and self-made women: fact and fantasy in women’s work orientations. European Sociological Review, 7(2), 101–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakim, C. (2004). Key issues in women’s work. London: GlassHouse Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoque, K., & Kirkpatrick, I. (2003). Non-standard employment in the management and professional workforce: Training, consultation and gender implications. Work, Employment and Society, 17(4), 667–690. doi:10.1177/0950017003174004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J., Campbell, M., & Huerta, C. (2008). Patterns of paid and unpaid work in Western Europe: Gender, commodification, preferences and the implications for policy. Journal of European Social Policy, 18(1), 21–37. doi:10.1177/0958928707084450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyonette, C., & Crompton, R. (2008). The only way is up? An examination of women’s ‘under-achievement’ in the accountancy profession in the UK. Gender in Management, 23(7), 506–521. doi:10.1108/17542410810908857.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyonette, C., Baldauf, B., & Behle, H. (2010, March). “Quality” part-time work: A review of the evidence. Government Equalities Office. http://sta.geo.useconnect.co.uk/publications_and_research/research/quality_part_time_work_eviden.aspx. Accessed 17 June 2014.

  • McRae, S. (2003). Constraints and choices in mothers’ employment careers. British Journal of Sociology, 54(3), 317–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010, March). Gender brief, social policy division. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. http://www.oecd.org/els/family/44720649.pdf. Accessed 17 June 17 2014.

  • ONS. (2012). Underemployed workers in the UK, 2012. Office for National Statistics. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/underemployed-workers-in-the-uk/2012/index.html. Accessed 17 June 2014.

  • Procter, I., & Padfield, M. (1998). Young adult women, work, and family: Living a contradiction. London/Washington, DC: Mansell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Román, A. (2006). Deviating from the standard: Effects on labor continuity and career patterns. Amsterdam: Dutch University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubery, J., & Fagan, C. (1994). Does feminization mean a flexible labour force? In R. Hyman & A. Ferner (Eds.), New frontiers in European industrial relations (pp. 140–166). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J., & Dex, S. (2009). Paid and unpaid work: Can policy improve gender inequalities? In J. Miles & R. Probert (Eds.), Sharing lives, dividing assets: An interdisciplinary study (pp. 41–60). Oxford, UK: Hart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smithson, J., Lewis, S., Cooper, C., & Dyer, J. (2004). Flexible working and the gender pay gap in the accountancy profession. Work, Employment and Society, 18(1), 115–135. doi:10.1177/0950017004040765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, C. A., Beauvais, L. L., & Lyness, K. S. (1999). When work benefits are not enough: The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54(3), 392–415. doi:10.1006/jvbe.1998.1681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornley, C. (2007). Working part-time for the state: Gender, class and the public sector pay gap. Gender, Work and Organisation, 14(5), 454–475. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0432.2007.00360.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilly, C. (1996). Half a job: Bad and good part-time jobs in a changing labor market. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, J. (2006). Part-time occupational mobility in the service industries: Regulation, work commitment and occupational closure. The Sociological Review, 54(1), 66–86. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2006.00602.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, J., Olsen, W., & Purdam, K. (2009). Women returners and potential returners: Employment profiles and labour market opportunities – A case study of the UK. European Sociological Review, 25(3), 349–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, T. (2003). A privileged pole? Diversity in women’s pay, pensions and wealth in Britain. Gender, Work and Organisation, 10(5), 605–628. doi:10.1111/1468-0432.00213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, T. (2008). Universal disadvantage? The economic well-being of female part-timers in Europe. European Societies, 10(5), 737–762. doi:10.1080/14616690701757853.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, T., Pascall, G., & Fox, E. (2010). Gender equality in time: Low-paid mothers’ paid and unpaid work in the UK. Feminist Economics, 16(3), 193–219. doi:10.1080/13545701.2010.499997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheelock, J., & Jones, K. (2002). ‘Grandparents are the next best thing’: Informal childcare for working parents in urban Britain. Journal of Social Policy, 31(3), 441–463. doi:10.1017/S0047279402006657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Women and Work Commission (WWC). (2006). Shaping a fairer future. From: Department for culture, media & sport, government equalities office. Department for Education, Minister for Women and Equalities and others. http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2006/02/27/equality.pdf. Accessed 17 June 17 2014.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Clare Lyonette, Beate Baldauf & Heike Behle

Authors
  1. Clare Lyonette
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Beate Baldauf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Heike Behle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clare Lyonette .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Practitioner, Goole, United Kingdom

    Roxane L Gervais

  2. School of Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia

    Prudence M. Millear

Annex A1: Framework Used for the Development of the Definition of Quality Part-Time Work

Annex A1: Framework Used for the Development of the Definition of Quality Part-Time Work

No.

Dimensions

Operationalisation

Comments

1.

Pro-rata wages

PT workers receive the same pro-rata wages as a comparable full-time worker. Pro-rata wages include basic pay and performance-related pay

1st bullet point of the working definition

2.

Pro-rata access to benefits

PT workers receive the same pro-rata access to benefits as a comparable full-time worker, such as sick leave, annual leave and pension

1st bullet point of the working definition

3.

Same protection as full-timers with regard to job, contracted hours and discrimination

PT workers receive the same protection as full-timers with regard to job protection, contracted hours and discrimination as a comparable full-time worker

1st bullet point of the working definition

4.

Equal opportunities to participate in training

PT workers have the same equal opportunities to participate in training as a comparable full-time worker (ideally including access to career-enhancing training, at a time when PT workers can access the training during their contracted hours or make alternative arrangements to do so)

1st bullet point of the working definition

5.

Equal access to career progression

PT workers have the same opportunities as FT workers to apply for promotion, with applications being considered on their merit

1st bullet point of the working definition

Some qualitative studies suggest that there is an informal closure of promotion opportunities at the workplace even where official policies support equal opportunities

6.

Employment reflects the qualification level and the skills of the employee

PT work is commensurate with the qualification and skill level of the job-holder, e.g. staff reducing their hours on return from a short break, where their skills are still current, can continue working in the same job or a job at the same grade

2nd bullet point of the working definition

There may be sector specific differences in what constitutes a short leave where skills have remained current. (e.g. science/engineering versus other areas)

7.

Predictability and control over the working hours

The hours of PT workers have either been set to meet their own needs or theirs and the employer’s needs

3rd bullet point of the working definition

8.

Reversibility of mode of work (from FT to PT and from PT to FT)

It is relatively easy for workers to reduce or increase their working hours, given a certain lead time. The change in hours does not have a detrimental effect on the job-holder’s utilisation of skills or the grade attained

4th bullet point of the working definition

Statistical data (Anxo et al., 2007) show that a change of mode of work in either direction or both ways is not commonplace in organisations and varies according to a number of factors (e.g. size of the company, scope of part-time work)

  1. NB. PT part-time, FT full-time

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lyonette, C., Baldauf, B., Behle, H. (2016). Making the Best of a Bad Job? Women and Part-Time Work in the United Kingdom. In: Gervais, R., Millear, P. (eds) Exploring Resources, Life-Balance and Well-Being of Women Who Work in a Global Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31736-6_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31736-6_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31734-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31736-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation