Full-time hours, part-time work: questioning the sufficiency of working hours as a measure of employment status

Figures & data

Table 1. Classifications of ambiguous and unambiguous employment status based on three indicators.

		Part-time identity (self-assessment)	Part-time days (<5 days/week)	Part-time hours (<30hrs/week)	Classification according to hours only (≥30hrs)
1a	Unambiguous part-time	X	X	X	Part-time
1b		X		X	Part-time
2	Part-time identity and days	X	X		Full-time
3	Part-time hours and days		X	X	Part-time
4	Part-time identity	X			Full-time
5	Part-time days		X		Full-time
6	Part-time hours			X	Part-time
7	Unambigious full-time				Full-time

Note: x’s indicate reporting as part-time according to these measures.

Figure 1. Share of respondents in one of the ambiguous categories by demographic.

Source: UK LFS, 4th quarter 2018, n = 29,504, calibration weights; underlying data for the figure are presented in Table 3.

Figure 2. Marginal effects of parenthood on the probability of reporting into one of the ambiguous categories by gender and occupational class.

Source: UK LFS, 4th quarter 2018, n = 29,504, calibration weights.

Table 2. Probabilities of reporting ambiguously across gender, parenthood status and occupational class.

	Model 1	Model 2
Childless woman	0.215***	−0.272**
Father	−0.036	0.054
Mother	0.410***	0.057
Medium-skilled occupations	−0.293***	−0.514***
Professional occupations	−0.273***	−0.812***
Childless woman in medium-skilled occupations		0.527***
Childless woman in professional occupations		0.925***
Father in medium-skilled occupations		−0.069
Father in professional occupations		−0.163
Mother in medium-skilled occupations		0.206
Mother in professional occupations		0.693**
Degree holder	−0.043	−0.066
Self-employed	−0.045	−0.054
White British	0.036	0.037
Constant	−2.064	−1.789

Source: UK LFS, 4th quarter 2018, n = 29,504, calibration weights.

Base: unambiguous reporting. Logistic coefficients reported. Models controlled for age and sector.

Note: *** p<.000 **p<.01 *p<.05 +p<.1.

Table 3. Distribution of different demographics across the ambiguous and unambiguous categories.

Combined classification	N	Unambiguous share	Ambiguous share	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
				Unambiguous Part-time	Part-time days and identity	Part-time days and hours	Part-time identity	Part-time days	Part-time hours	Unambiguous full-time
Mean	29504	88.2	11.79	21.7	2.18	0.47	1.55	6.8	0.79	66.5
Male	15192	90.83	9.26	10.38***	0.98***	0.4+	1.06***	6.25**	0.57***	80.45***
Female	14311	85.28	14.71	34.87***	3.57***	0.55+	2.12***	7.44**	1.03***	50.41***
Childless men	9741	90.47	9.54	11.89***	1.07	0.4	1.25**	6.33	0.49	78.58***
Fathers	5451	91.26	8.73	7.37***	0.81	0.4	0.71**	6.09	0.72	83.89***
Childless women	9012	86.64	13.37	28.34***	2.66***	0.51	1.92*	7.28	1	58.3***
Mother	5299	82.83	17.18	46.64***	5.22***	0.64	2.5*	7.72	1.1	36.19***
Low-skilled occupations	20164	87.01	12.98	34.73***	1.9**	0.68**	2.12***	7.45*	0.83**	52.28***
Medium-skilled occupations	9618	88.55	11.45	21.09***	2.01**	0.46**	1.67***	6.32*	0.99**	67.46***
Professional occupations	7106	88.65	11.34	12.87***	2.6**	0.32**	0.98***	6.96*	0.48**	75.78***
Professional mothers	1722	76.92	23.08	29.06	8.18	0.34	1.73	12.36	0.47	47.86
Non-degree holder	19390	87.95	12.05	24.57***	1.81***	0.56**	1.64	7.12**	0.92**	63.38***
Degree holder	10113	88.67	11.33	16.56***	2.85***	0.31**	1.39	6.23**	0.55**	72.11***
Non-white	2966	88.04	11.96	21.89	1.55*	0.68+	1.06*	7.71*	0.96	66.15
White	26537	88.23	11.77	21.68	2.27*	0.44+	1.62*	6.68*	0.76	66.55
Employee	25187	87.89	12.11	21.2***	2.34***	0.41***	1.48*	7.27***	0.61***	66.69
Self-employed	4316	90.13	9.87	24.73***	1.21***	0.84***	2.02*	3.97***	1.83***	65.4

Source: UK LFS, 4th quarter 2018, n = 29,504, calibration weights.

Models controlled for age and sector, marginal effects reported.

Note: *** p<.000 **p<.01 *p<.05 +p<.1.

Table 4. Marginal effects of socio-demographic characteristics for selection into ambiguous categories

	Unambiguous reporting	Part-time days and identity	Part-time days and hours	Part-time identity	Part-time days	Part-time hours
Effect of sex
Childless woman (vs. childless man) in low-skilled occupation	0.031**	0.002	0.001	0.002	−0.039***	0.003
Childless woman (vs. childless man) in medium-skilled occupation	−0.023***	0.012***	−0.001	0.005+	0.003	0.004+
Childless woman (vs. childless man) in professional occupation	−0.056***	0.017***	0.004*	0.005+	0.028***	0.002
Effect of being a parent
Father (vs. non-parent) in low-skilled occupation	−0.005	0.002	0.003	−0.007	0.000	0.007+
Father (vs. non-parent) in medium-skilled occupation	0.002	0.000	−0.002	0.000	−0.001	0.002
Father (vs. non-parent) in professional occupation	0.008	−0.003	0.000	−0.005*	−0.001	0.001
Mother (vs. non-parent) in low-skilled occupation	−0.013	0.012+	0.002	−0.001	−0.003	0.003
Mother (vs. non-parent) in medium-skilled occupation	−0.031***	0.022***	0.003	0.017***	−0.013*	0.002
Mother (vs. non-parent) in professional occupation	−0.091***	0.056***	−0.002	0.004	0.035***	−0.001
Other effects (at means)
Self-employed (vs. employee)	0.005	−0.01***	0.006**	0.007**	−0.232***	0.015***
White British (vs. non-white)	−0.004	0.009***	−0.002	0.005**	−0.006	−0.002
Degree holder (vs. no degree)	0.006	0.009***	−0.002*	0.002	−0.011**	−0.004**

Source: UK LFS, 4th quarter 2018, n = 29,504, calibration weights.

Models controlled for age and sector, marginal effects reported.

Note: *** p<.000 **p<.01 *p<.05 +p<.1.

Table 5. Couples where at least one partner had an 'ambiguous' employment status.

	Occupations	Working hours according to recruitment survey	Self-assessment of working arrangement in interviews
Couple A
Him	Manager	35–40 hours	Full-time (5 days)
Her*	Scientist	35–40 hours	Part-time (4 days)
Couple B
Him	Police Officer	35–40 hours	Full-time (5 days)
Her*	Lawyer	over 40 hours	Part-time (4 days)
Couple C
Him*	Doctor	35–40 hours	Part-time (4 days)
Her*	Doctor	35–40 hours	Part-time (4 days)

*Indicates ‘ambiguous’ employment status.