Part-time female earning: an analysis using Northern Ireland NES data

Abstract

Part-time work (often defined as than 30 hours per week employment) has increased in recent decades, along with the growth in female participation in the labour force. The majority of part-timers tend to be women (particularly order, married women), and part-time jobs are usually observed in distinct segments of the labour market where skill levels (and other human capital attributes associated with primary labour markets) tend to be low. Consequently, part-time earnings are expected to be lower than those paid to full-time workers. This paer makes use of a particularly appropriate data source, the New Earnings Survey, to examine the relative earnings of part-time female workes in Northern Ireland over the period 1972–84. Use is then made of a special (voluntary) return attached to the 1987 NESto consider the determinants of individual employment status (part-time versus full-time) and the earnings of both categories of female workes. Following the regression work, it is then possible to estimate the full-time/part-time earnings gap, after controlling for the composition of the workforce across the two groups. The 1972–84 figures show that, over time, an initial earnings gap of over 16% in favour of full-time workers closed to around 6% (in 1980), before rising again to almost 11% by 1984. The 1987 NESdata gave an estimated average wage differential of 19% for full-timers. However, the observed average differential paid in the market place was only 9%, which suggests that part-time workerxs are more productive (and this reduces the impact of the full-time mark-up).