hour shift-work, much of which is done by women working part-time. Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Part-Time Employment: Early Evidence June 2016 ... employees to offer “affordable” health insurance to employees working 30 or more hours per week. This is unsurprising given that the U.S. labor market has recovered only about three-fourths of the jobs lost during the recession and its aftermath, which leaves finding a full-time job still challenging for many workers. The impact of part-time workers on firms’ productivity is unclear, and ... on p. 1); only individuals who give that last response are classified as involuntary part-time workers. Polivka, Anne, and Stephen Miller. Source: CPS and authors’ calculations. Graham-Squire, Dave, and Ken Jacobs. By this standard, the level of part-time work in recent years is not unprecedented, although its persistence during the ongoing recovery is unusual. Note: Percent is share of total employment. She also works for the Melbourne practice Breathe Architecture, where she leads a variety of projects ranging from residential to commercial. Gray bars show NBER
BLS staff members (Polivka and Miller 1998) have provided adjustment factors to account for the impact of the survey redesign. It dropped from about 23% of employed individuals in the late 1970s to just over 12% in recent years, putting substantial downward pressure on the overall prevalence of part-time work. Part-time employees can be very valuable to your organization since they are often the ones who help out during mid-shift busy periods or take on extra hours during the holiday season to prevent you’re having to hire en masse.They can also pinch hit when a full-time employee calls in sick and you need someone to step up quickly who already knows the ropes. Information Technology has also had a major impact on the defence capabilities of governments. In particular, on a consistent basis, the part-time employment share peaked at 20.3% in 1983, slightly above the recent peak of 19.7% in 2010. But there are plenty of positive aspects to part-time work if you look at it the right way. Some observers worry that this stubbornly high prevalence of part-time work may be one feature of an unfavorable “new normal” in the labor market. that inconsistencies in the application of flexible working policy could lead to perceptions of unfairness, and disrupt working relationships. In most labor force surveys, involuntary part-time employment refers to individuals who work part-time because they cannot find a full-time job. They would prefer full-time work and are typically regarded as involuntary part-time workers. Figure 3 shows the prevalence of the two categories of part-time work and their ratio, adjusted for the 1994 survey redesign. Both supply-side and demand-side factors have driven the growth in part time employment. Various factors, such as financial dependence on their parents, school enrollment, relatively low skills, and, more generally, weak labor force attachment, have made young workers much more likely to work part time than older workers. Part-time work allows architects to devote a portion of their weeks to these other roles, further deepening the value of this alternative perspective. The impact of students’ part-time work on educational outcomes . Box 7702 Attn: Research publications, MS 1140 This publication is edited by Sam Zuckerman and Anita Todd. However, the amount of flexibility won in the labor market due to part-time work is questionable. In assessing changes that span the pre- and post-1994 redesign period, it is important to adjust for this discontinuity. People work part-time jobs for many reasons. Moreover, involuntary part-time work, that is, part-time work for economic reasons, remains high. 2011. Creativity relies on lateral and associative forms of thinking, modes of operation that are enhanced by ‘random stimulation’. Part time work has become an important form of employment growing from 10 per cent of total employment in 1966 to 29 per cent in 2007. The simple long-term comparison made above ignores relevant changes in the structure of the workforce. Despite the fact that many adolescents work between the ages of 12 and 17, little empirical evidence exists about the impact of part-time employment on academic performance. The effects on students of working in a part-time job while at school constitute the subject of this report. About 10% of all professionals now work part-time. Workers age 16 to 24 are much more likely than prime-age workers age 25 to 54 to work part time. They invest their time and money in activities that affect their offspring's well-being. According to the survey results, benefits for the company are deemed less important, such as an easier response to workload peaks (51%), deploying staff more flexibly (37%), and increasing the motivation and … Part-time work or temping can be a stepping stone to full-time employment: Working on a part-time or full-time temporary assignment is a good way for both you and your potential employer to … The survey of 2,128 students found that nearly half of students – 45% – have a part-time job, including a third of students now working part-time during term time. By contrast, part-time work has declined for married women with more than a high school education. These individuals perhaps enjoy the most benefit out of the changing nature of the workplace. The Effects of Part-Time Work on School Students. The slack work subcomponent is highly cyclical, with increases and declines typically tied closely to recession dates (BLS 2008). Parents play an important role in shaping the adult lives of their children. In that respect, the continued high incidence of part-time work likely reflects a slow labor market recovery and does not portend permanent changes in the proportion of part-time jobs. The second group of part-time workers consists of individuals who cite noneconomic reasons and are typically regarded as voluntary part-time workers in the sense that their status reflects individual preferences or needs rather than employer requirements. Figure 2 shows the incidence of part-time work for selected demographic groups, adjusted for the 1994 survey redesign. Nonetheless, increases for various demographic groups underlie this overall stability, a trend that has accelerated because of a recession-induced shift towards involuntary part-time work. They give us perspective, and help us understand the varied ways in which people use space. Media stories have suggested that some employers are only hiring part-time workers to minimize the cost of expanded health coverage. We found . The largest of them are (1) an explicit penalty on employers who do not offer coverage to their full-time employees; (2) an implicit tax on full-time employment, stemming from the fact that full-time employees at employers that offer affordable coverage are ineligible to receive Note: Gray bars show NBER recession dates. For more information on the importance of meaningful part-time work in architecture, remember to take a look at Guide 3 of Parlour’s guides to equitable practice. How Part Time Jobs Influence the Economy. “The Effect of an Employer Health Insurance Mandate on Health Insurance Coverage and the Demand for Labor: Evidence from Hawaii.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 3 (November), pp. The number of U.S.-based employees that work from home has more than doubled in the past 15 years.. The increase in part-time work during the most recent recession was especially large, which is not surprising given the size of the cyclical downturn. 1998. The divided lines in the figure reflect the impact of a major redesign of the CPS survey in 1994. The increase in part-time work during the most recent recession was especially large, which is not surprising given the size of the cyclical downturn. This method yielded adjustment factors nearly identical to those of Polivka and Miller. These factors have fueled speculation that elevated rates of part-time work may be here to stay. Whether or not individuals will see a drop in earnings will, however, also depend on their work arrangement and the demand for work. Figure 1 shows that part-time work typically increases in recessions, which reflects the cyclical reduction in labor demand that reduces hours worked along with increasing the unemployment rate. However, while the availability of young workers age 16 to 24 in the labor force is declining, the prevalence of part-time work has increased in that group. Movements in the inability to find full-time work subcomponent tend to lag behind the slack work component. To some people, part-time work means having your hours reduced against your will or settling for part-time work after a long job hunt failed to land a full-time position. Some retirees work part-time jobs to occupy their time and launch second careers. Because of this, the more varied a person’s workday, the more opportunities they will have to make unexpected connections and generate innovative ideas. Individual wellbeing is measured in terms of subjective indicators of mental health, general … Percent is share of total employment. San Francisco, CA 94120, © 2021 Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, “Which Workers Are Most at Risk of Reduced Hours under the Affordable Care Act?”, “Involuntary Part-Time Work on the Rise.”. (mother, works part-time) The impact of an unsatisfactory marriage on parenting was another issue raised by a divorced mother. “Involuntary Part-Time Work on the Rise.” Issues in Labor Statistics 08-08 (December). Some people actually consider the right part-time work arrangement the best of both worlds when it comes to work … ... along with a health insurance mandate for individuals, an expansion of Medicaid, and subsidies for those purchasing coverage in the individual market. recession dates. Most part-time work is for noneconomic reasons. Charged with the weighty task of delivering functional and meaningful spaces for the spectrum of life’s moments, architects are some of the original knowledge workers. As Lee Hillam points out in her essay, Go Hard or Go Home!, ‘…to be a good architect it is vitally important that you engage with the world outside architecture, that you be a broadly educated and broadly interested person, that you give yourself time and space to be inspired and to understand the communities you are designing for.’. Individuals who are computer literate and have significant technical skills are now in high demand. Who better to design universities than academics? The incidence of part-time work is little changed relative to the recession of the early 1980s once changes in survey measurement are taken into account. Some wish to balance work with other pursuits, while others enjoy the flexibility and control they maintain over their lives. Although it is widely recognised that many students are employed part-time out of school hours, little is known about the consequences of such employment. This study explores the relationship between individual wellbeing and atypical employment, which includes both temporary and part-time employment schemes. RSS Feed In particular, fathers' and mothers' employment affects both the income coming into the family and the time devoted to children's development. Part-time work spiked during the recent recession and has stayed stubbornly high, raising concerns that elevated part-time employment represents a “new normal” in the labor market. Beyond creativity, the design of meaningful space requires a profound understanding of people and relationships. Rob Valletta is a research advisor in the Economic Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Share. From improving staff retention to allowing for flexible resourcing, it is no secret that part-time employment makes good financial sense for all types of businesses. Graduate Certificate in Environmental Design, Changing Cultures – Lessons from Construction, Guide 3 of Parlour’s guides to equitable practice, Meet the new National Committee for Gender Equity. This continual source of un-choreographed interaction is an instrumental benefit to a creative design studio. By contrast, part-time work for economic reasons has a substantial cyclical component, rising in recessions and falling in recoveries. The primary economic reasons for working part time are business slack or unfavorable conditions that prompt employers to cut back hours, or the inability of a worker to find full-time employment. The prevalence of part time work has increased for both men and women and for all age groups. Working individuals often find themselves juggling between their work and social lives, aiming for the ever-elusive work-life balance. We have shown that part-time work is not unusually high relative to levels observed in the past, most notably in the aftermath of the early 1980s recession. The first consists of individuals working part time for economic reasons. Source: CPS and authors’ calculations. The marriage wasn't a good one. Some researchers (e.g. We’ve created resources on the impact of COVID-19 on organizations and individuals. Figure 1 shows that part-time work typically increases in recessions, which reflects the cyclical reduction in labor demand that reduces hours worked along with increasing the unemployment rate. Note: Percent of total employment for each group. Research Library “The CPS After the Redesign: Refocusing the Economic Lens.” In Labor Statistics Measurement Issues, eds. Figure 2Part-time employment for selected groups. As a result of the advances in online communication and collaboration tools, remote work is becoming increasingly common. The B2 b… 25–51. Overall, it appears that the decline in the pool of teenagers and married women who prefer to work part time was offset by increases in the proportion of part-time workers among other demographic groups who in the past were less likely to work fewer than 35 hours per week. They are learning, observing and processing new information that they will bring with them into the workplace to draw upon when performing creative tasks or engaging in problem-solving exercises. Creativity is essential to the design and delivery of these varied typologies, and it takes a diverse team of minds and a collaborative environment to achieve the most successful outcomes. Consider that while many of us are sitting in air-conditioned office buildings for ten hours a day, five days a week, part-time employees are out walking along beaches or streets, caring for and playing with children, or visiting art museums. Before the law was passed, most large employers already faced IRS rules that prevented them from denying available health benefits to full-time workers. Women working part-time with young children are generally not flexible workers, with the constraints of daycare opening hours, school schedules, and holidays (Visser et al., 2004). Figure 1 shows the annual average percentage of employed individuals working part time. Figure 4 shows the prevalence of these two subcomponents and their ratio. This has been widely investigated. Not only are companies getting comfortable with the practice, but a whole new set of issues has emerged. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes several types of incentives that will affect work schedules. When our industry reflects the diversity of the general population, we will be best suited to design sensitively to every client and every user. In 2012 and 2013 through July, this component continued to rise slightly as the slack work subcomponent fell. Subscribe The share of employed individuals working part time rose from about 17% in 2007 just before the recession to nearly 20% in 2009 and stayed near that level through mid-2013. The value for 2013 is based on the first six months of the year. These rules gave employers an incentive to create part-time jobs to avoid rising health benefit costs. Source: CPS and authors’ calculations. Not only does the flexibility of part-time work benefit the part-time employee, but it benefits their colleagues as well. The ability to work from home can help cushion the impact of the crisis. On the other hand, part-time and full-time working reduces body weight, and full-time working improves the word recall score. John Haltiwanger, Marilyn Manser, and Robert Topel. If we continue losing members of our industry who fall outside the full-time mould, we will be acting to our own disadvantage. Challenges in labor markets are growing, household incomes in advanced economies have been stagnating, and there are increasing skill gaps among workers. Madeline Sewall is a Victorian representative of the Australian Institute of Architects’ National Committee for Gender Equity. For example it would have been impossible to design aeroplanes such as the B2 Bomber if it were not for the advances made in information technology. Still, the elevated level of involuntary part-time work is likely to fall as the labor market recovery continues. Impact on earnings. Through the experiences of raising children, caring for elders, or establishing relationships with other colleagues and students, part-time employees are actively developing hard and soft skills that enhance the practice of architecture. 2013. This course focuses on the context in which work-life balance has grown, comparing the key theories of work-life conflict, work-life integration and enrichment, and boundary management. Estimating the causal effect , is not straightforward. An alternative interpretation of the persistent high level of involuntary part-time work due to an inability to find full-time work is that it reflects employer anticipation of the 30-hour cutoff for mandatory employee health benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. In Figure 3 we see that the self-employed, who typically rely on projects and job assignments, are hit particularly hard. The increase among these groups was especially large in the recent recession and its aftermath. Our experiences in these roles add value to our ability to design buildings for others to occupy. The redesigned survey posed questions about hours worked based on usual weekly hours, which allowed some people working 35 or more hours in the week of the survey to be classified as part time. Advances in weapons technology and weapons design has increased the effectiveness of various governments armed forces. We’ve been studying the impact of Remote Work from the crisis and the well is deepening. The BLS publishes several monthly series on part-time employment. Twenty six percent of adults in the U.S. have some type of disability. Permission to reprint must be obtained in writing. In this Economic Letter, we examine part-time employment since 1976 and earlier, the period for which detailed data on part-time workers are available. P.O. In any event, both the impact of the law so far and the ultimate effect are likely to be small. Obviously there are factors that will have an even greater impact on parenting capacity than work. “Which Workers Are Most at Risk of Reduced Hours under the Affordable Care Act?” UC Berkeley Labor Center Data Brief, February. 2012). Having colleagues coming and going from the office intermittently gives full-time employees the benefit of being stimulated by different people, perspectives and conversations. Data on part-time employment are available from the Current Population Survey (CPS), the monthly survey of 60,000 households that is the source for the government’s official unemployment rate and related labor force measures. Noneconomic reasons primarily include medical conditions, child-care needs, other family or personal obligations, school or training, and retirement. The physical, emotional and psychological demands of caring can be demanding and stressful and are often referred to by researchers collectively as ‘the burden of care’. However, the current level of part-time work is not high by historical standards based on comparison with the adjusted series for the pre-1994 period displayed in the figure. 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