VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon

New realities and implications of part-time working In this project, we explore the new realities and implications of part-time working. The spotlight focuses particularly on the relationship between good and bad part-time working in a national and international perspective. Part-time work as a phenomenon is linked to the ongoing debate on labour market dualisation and the capacity of politicians to influence practices in working life and in families. The key questions are as follows: 1. How has the link between part-time working and gender, and particularly the female part of the workforce, developed over time? 2.How do policies and regulations at different levels impact on the situation for part-time employees and the proliferation of good and bad part-time jobs? 3. What role does part-time working play in family policies and policies related to the work-life balance in different national contexts? 4. What characterises good and bad part-time work and how can we understand the relationship between different variants of this category of working time? The contributions to the project stem from a wide range of European countries, the USA, Australia and South Korea. We give a taster here of the knowledge generated through the project. Two contributions to the project specifically address the arguments and considerations that have been at the heart of the Norwegian debate on part-time working over the past 40 years. The authors show that while female economic independence and freedom to choose to work part-time were most important at the start of the 1980s, part-time work is considered to be undesirable in the contemporary debate. The development of this view is interesting in that it reflects the evolution of society along many dimensions and illustrates how developments in working life, society and the welfare state are inextricably linked. This is also of interest beyond the borders of Norway, where labour force participation among women is lower and part-time working is discussed as a solution to the integration of women, but one that creates inequality. The potential of political regulations to prevent or impede the development of a dualised working life is a core issue in several of the contributions. EU regulations have a modest effect on the prevalence and quality of part-time jobs. National regulations, policies and traditions are far more central to the part-time profile in the individual countries. In practice, however, national regulations also face challenges, such as those in the workplace. Several contributions illustrate that although political regulations have been introduced to increase the participation of women in the labour market and to fight involuntary part-time working, workplace strategies and interests may thwart policy implementation. The overarching debates on part-time working are often about whether part-time work is a good or bad form of labour force attachment. Since the majority of part-time employees are women, the discussion on the quality of part-time work also affects gender equality. In the project, we show that the quality of part-time jobs varies between countries, but also within different industries and between different occupational groups in the same industry. Based on contributions from various countries with different labour and welfare regimes, a typology of part-time jobs is developed according to two core dimensions; the extent to which employees can choose to work part time and the quality of working conditions and social rights. The project illustrates considerable variation between countries both in the proliferation of part-time jobs with little protection and in relation to the quality of working conditions among the most vulnerable employees. Meanwhile, despite the high share of part-time employees in Scandinavia whose conditions and rights can be categorised as equal to those of full-time employees, there are also part-time employees in this region in far more vulnerable or marginalised positions. Immigrants and people with a low level of education are particularly vulnerable. However, those who work part time in addition to studying cannot be considered to be quite as marginalised even though they have poor working conditions in some industries. They work part-time voluntarily and are progressing through life. Mobility is thus an important dimension of quality. In integration policy, it is often argued that working part time can serve as a first step on the path to a more comprehensive and stable job in the host country. Several of the contributions investigate this within the Norwegian context. Immigrants ? both men and women ? have a higher transition rate from working part time to full time than Norwegians, but they also face a greater risk of falling outside the labour market.

Hensikten med dette prosjektet er å øke kunnskapen om hva som kjennetegner kvinners arbeidstidsvalg i ulike livsfaser og på tvers av ulike og bransjer og landbakgrunner. Et viktig spørsmål er også om valgene varier systematisk over tid i de siste tiårene. Mens deltid i mange land fremstår som en løsning på utfordringer knyttet til kjønnslikestilling, fremstilles deltidsarbeid i økende grad som et problem i Norge. Det er reist spørsmål om den vedvarende norske deltiden hindrer den videre likestillingsprosessen og om den står i veien for å løse et stort og voksende arbeidskraftbehov i helsesektoren. Prosjektets teoretiske ambisjon er å bidra til en dypere forståelse av: (1) Hvorvidt deltidsarbeidet i Norge fortsatt kan forstås som en normaliseringsprosess, som en felle, eller snarere som et overgangsfenomen for ulike grupper av kvinner og hva som er drivkraften bak disse ulike prosessene; (2) hvordan kulturelle og institusjonelle rammeverk bidrar til å forme deltidsvalg i fire bransjer, (3) de muligheter og begrensninger kvinner møter i ulike livsfaser, og hvordan deres arbeidstidsvalg tilpasses strukturelle forhold ved ulike arbeidsplasser. Et hovedspørsmål er hvorvidt vi kan forstå arbeidstidsvalgene som like eller ei når vi sammenlikner ulike kohorter av kvinner, som korresponderer med de tre livsfasene 'småbarnsfase', 'eldre barns-fase' og «tomt rede». Videre undersøkes det hvorvidt rasjonale bak valgene varierer over tid. Vi vil også undersøke om det er variasjon langs tema som utdanningsnivå, etnisitet og kjennetegn ved ulike yrker. Forskningsdesignet bygger på flere metodiske tilnærminger der kvantitative, komparative og kvalitative teknikker tas i bruk for å analysere et rikt datamateriale. Med utgangspunkt i registerdata vil vi vi se på (potensielle) endringer over tid totalt og blant ulike grupper av kvinner etter kjennetegn som barns alder, kvinnenes utdanningsnivå og så videre. I utgangspunktet vil vi se på forekomst av deltid på ulike historiske tidspunkt (midten av 1990-tallet, midten av 2000-tallet og per 2012), men vi vil også undersøke mobilitet fra deltid til heltid. I tillegg bygger undersøkelsen på systematiske dybdeintervjuer med deltidsarbeidende kvinner i ulike livsfaser og yrker samt deres arbeidsgivere. Data fra de kvalitative intervjuene skal analyseres med tanke på å forstå og forklare de strukturelle forholdene som produserer deltidsarbeid. Dessuten vil vi analysere de diskurser og argumenter som har knyttet seg til deltidsarbeid gjennom de to siste tiårene. Diskursanalysen er avgjørende for å identifisere hvordan politikere, partene i arbeidslivet og andre aktører kan ha påvirket beslutningene om å arbeide deltid.