Part-time Work and Caring Responsibilities in Australia: Towards an Assessment of Job Quality

Abstract

Part-time work (for women) is often put forward as a solution to the problems of balancing paid work and caring responsibilities. This assessment is too shallow. It neglects the crucial issue of the quality of the part-time job. Poor quality part-time work may worsen problems of work and family imbalance rather than contribute to their solution. Good quality part-time work is the main path forward. This is a preliminary paper, which focuses on introducing the topic and outlining several dimensions—other than just number of hours—that are important in any assessment of the quality of part-time jobs.