Part-time employment

Opportunities for part-time work are especially important for people who do not want to work full-time because of family circumstances, such as parents (often woman) with young children and those caring for the elderly. Indeed, recent surveys in a large number of OECD countries show that most people who work part-time do so by choice. This suggests that countries with little part-time employment could foster increased employment by policies that promote the availability of part-time jobs.

Definition

Part-time employment refers to persons who usually work less than 30 hours per week in their main job. This definition has the advantage of being comparable across countries as national definitions of part-time employment vary greatly from one country to another. Part-time workers include both employees and the self-employed.

Employment is generally measured through household labour force surveys. According to the ILO Guidelines, employed persons are those aged 15 or over who report that they have worked in gainful employment for at least one hour in the previous week or who had a job but were absent from work in the reference week. The rates shown here refer to the number of persons who usually work less than 30 hours per week in their main job as a percentage of the total number of those in employment.

Comparability

All OECD countries use the ILO Guidelines for measuring employment. Operational definitions used in national labour force surveys may, however, vary slightly across countries. Employment levels are also likely to be affected by changes in the survey design, the survey scope and the survey conduct. Despite these changes, employment rates are fairly consistent over time. Information on the number of hours usually worked is mostly collected in household labour force surveys. Part-time rates are considered to be of good comparability.

There are two series breaks due a major redesign of the national labour force survey in Chile between 2009 and 2010 and in Israel between 2011 and 2012. For Israel there was a change from a quarterly to a monthly survey as well as a change in concept from “civilian” to “total” labour force.