Introduction

This chapter explores formal approaches to job design and more informal workplace decisions, processes and practices relating to the structure and content of part-time jobs. It shows that these factors increase the tendency for women to experience economic disadvantage and poor-quality working lives, and play an important role in sustaining and reinforcing gender inequalities in employment. The chapter demonstrates that in many workplaces employers approach the design of part-time jobs, in a range of aspects, in a distinct way; the chapter seeks to explain the reasons for this. It also shows that there are more informal workplace processes, practices and decisions that influence job design and limit the range of part-time job opportunities, reproducing the association between part-time jobs and low-status employment. Because the majority of part-time jobs are held by women, this contributes to gender inequality.

By combining a discussion of working time with a consideration of job design and informal workplace practices we can reach a deeper understanding of the sources of disadvantage associated with part-time employment. In addition, there is a locality dimension to this discussion. One outcome of variations in occupational and industrial structure between local labour markets is that the spread of jobs in terms of working time also varies, with diverse implications for gender inequality. It also suggests that the feasibility of constructing more higher-level part-time jobs is much greater than is currently realised.

In Chapter Three we set out a key puzzle associated with women's part-time employment. Part-time jobs tend be of poor quality and typically characterised by low pay and limited opportunities for training and promotion. Yet there has been significant growth over the past decade in the number of women who work part time. This is particularly important because part-time employment is a typical and long-term form of employment for many women in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Thus, millions of women in the prime years of their working lives are affected by the poor quality of part-time jobs. During the period 1991–2002 the total number of part-time jobs held by women rose by 31%. Part-time job growth was very marked in the labour markets of all the localities in the GELLM research programme (as discussed in more detail in Chapter Four).