Trends in Occupations - Part-time Jobs, Full-time Employment

This chart shows the part-time work activity of men and women who also hold full-time jobs (35 hours or more per week). All data are for May 1995. That year, 6.5 million people held a part-time job in addition to a full work schedule. Most (4.4 million) held a full-time primary job and one or more part time jobs. About 975,000 workers combined more than one part-time job into a full-time schedule.

Sixty eight percent of all part-time workers are women. The majority of part-time women workers (72.9%) are 25 years old and older, with 57.2% between the ages of 25 and 54. The men's part-time workforce is more evenly distributed among the age groups, but most workers (53.4%) are 25 years old and older, with 30.3% between the ages of 25 and 54.

More men than women hold a part-time job in addition to their full-time job. Of the men that are in this category, 69.3% are married¹². Married women in this category make up 44.1%. More married men may choose to supplement their primary incomes with a second job so that their wives can have more free time to take care of the children and household. The second income may also provide enough money so that the wife doesn't have to get a second job herself, or it may provide enough money so that the wife doesn't have to work full time at all. Despite this, nearly half of women who work a part-time job in addition to a full-time job are married. Some reasons for this could be that the combined income of the husband and the wife isn't enough to pay the daily living expenses or debts the couple has accrued. Another reason could be that the extra income provides either extra savings or extra spending money.

More women than men hold two part-time jobs. In this case, 49.5% of women who are in this category are married. Married men make up 41.3% of the men who hold two part-time jobs. The need for a full-time income, but with the flexibility of part-time employment could be the reason for the high percentage of married women holding two part-time jobs. Married men have fewer of the jobs in this category — probably because of the lower income and lack of benefits offered by part-time jobs. The advantage of flexibility is overridden by the need to provide for the family.

More men than women hold two jobs with varying hours. In both cases, the majority of workers are married (71.1% of men and 51.4% of women). Some jobs in this category offer more of an incentive for married men and women because of their higher pay than other part-time jobs, good benefits, and their flexible schedule. Jobs in this category include those in the construction trades, transportation, business services, machine operators, assemblers and laborers.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor. "A Different Look at Part-time Employment." Issues in Labor Statistics, April 1996. Lonnie Golden. "Flexible work schedules: what are we trading off to get them?" Monthly Labor Review, March 2001.