English title: Part-time work among women in Sweden ?? what influences choice of working hours?
In the 1960s and 70s a large growth in part-time work amongst women in the Swedish labour market took place. A net inflow of workers into the labour market has been suggested as the main source. However, part-time work is still a common phenomenon among Swedish women; in 2004 almost 40% of all women worked part-time, and women are clearly dominating the part-time sector. A gradual changeover from house work to market work is hardly a valid explanation anymore. The purpose of this essay is to examine factors that contribute to women??s decision to work part-time in modern society.
A time allocation model and a family model form the theoretical background. Productivity in both house and market work, preferences and comparative advantages are factors which are emphasised by theory. Education level, family situation, age and job qualification are concrete examples of this. An initial illustration with aggregated data from 1987-2004 also gives an idea that these are aspects which differ among women who work part- and full time. Based on micro data from 1996-2003 from the Swedish Labour Force Surveys, estimations of probit models suggest that the probability to work part-time increases if a woman is married, has a child or is co-habiting and has a child. Branch of industry also seems to have considerable effect, and having an unqualified job (reflecting education and wage) increases the probability of part-time. Hence, since it is indicated that there are mostly poorly educated women in lower position jobs who work part-time, it seems reasonably to infer that many of these women have limited opportunities to be self-sufficient. To a larger extent, they depend on income from somewhere else; a partner or the state. The data processing and modelling further imply that the choice between so-called short and long part-time work as well as men??s choice of working hours are made on a somewhat different basis.
Certainly, men and women have closed in on each other regarding working hours. Nevertheless family and type of job still seem to be important factors for t...
