Dual tracks: part-time work in life-cycle employment for British women

Working paper

Almost half the women in work in the UK work part-time, but views conflict: does this support a woman's career or is it a dead-end trap? Cohort data on labour market involvement to age 42 show highly varied pathways through full/part-time/non-employment. Econometric estimation confirms that individual characteristics matter, but labour market history is particularly powerful. Part-time work serves two different functions. A history of full-time work even including spells in part-time or non-employment, tends to lead back to full-time work, so supporting a career. Part-time work combined with non-employment is unlikely to lead to full-time work, and is a trap.

Authors: Gregory, M; Connolly, S

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: University of Oxford
• Series: Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series
• Publication date: 2007-01-01
• Paper number: 301
• Keywords: persistence; female employment; part-time work; life-cycle; dynamic panel; discrete choice