Good or bad jobs? Characteristics of older female part-time work
O'Sullivan, Maeve ; Cross, Christine ; Lavelle, Jonathan
2021
52
5
September
423-441
part time employment ; older worker ; women workers ; gender ; age
Employment
https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12343
English
Bibliogr.;Statistics
"Despite consistently high rates of part-time employment among older women, the quality of this cohort's work is largely under-researched with the focus being mainly on younger women. To address this gap, our paper engages with the key strands of this debate—age, gender and employment status—to interrogate the job characteristics and position of this worker cohort in the Irish labour market. Findings reveal notable differences between this cohort's job characteristics compared with those of other part-time workers and older women working full-time. These job characteristics include low-wage employment in poor-quality jobs, suggesting that job quality is influenced by age, gender and employment status, raising concerns regarding the likelihood for precarious employment among this cohort. In addition to individual-level consequences, this study's findings have major implications for public and organisational policy on part-time labour market participation, highlighting the need for a new research agenda on older workers."
Digital
The ETUI is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ETUI.