Why does part-time employment increase in recessions?

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The share of workers employed part-time increases substantially in economic downturns. How should this phenomenon be interpreted? One hypothesis is that part-time jobs are more prevalent in sectors that are less sensitive to the business cycle, so that recessionary changes in the sectoral composition of employment explain the increase in part-time employment. The evidence shows, however, that this hypothesis only accounts for a small part of the story. Instead, the growth of part-time work operates mainly through reductions in working hours in existing jobs.

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• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: IZA World of Labor ; ISSN: 2054-9571 ; Year: 2017 ; Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity ; Business Fluctuations; Cycles ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Macroeconomics: Consumption; Saving; Wealth
• Subject: part-time work ; involuntary ; business cycles

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2017

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.15185/izawol.397
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/171205