eprintid: 10161908
rev_number: 7
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/16/19/08
datestamp: 2022-12-19 12:43:45
lastmod: 2022-12-19 12:44:50
status_changed: 2022-12-19 12:43:45
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Stovell, Clare
creators_name: Besamusca, Janna
title: Full-time hours, part-time work: questioning the sufficiency of working hours as a measure of employment status
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B16
divisions: B14
divisions: J81
keywords: Employment status, part-time, measurement, working hours, mixed-methodsUK
note: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: Although distinctions between full-time and part-time work are vital for understanding inequalities at work and home, consensus and critical reflection are lacking in how employment status should be defined. Full-time and part-time work are often represented as a binary split between those working under or over a specific number of hours. However, this paper, using exploratory mixed methods, evidences problems with assumptions based on working-hour thresholds and highlights the importance of workplace culture and household contexts. Using the UK Labour Force Survey we reveal ambiguities in the reporting of employment status for 12% of workers when comparing definitions based on number of working days, working hours and self-assessment. Ambiguities are particularly prevalent among working mothers with almost a third, who would be regarded as working full-time using hour-based measures, classified as ambiguous according to the measures used here. In-depth interviews with parents who self-classify as part-time workers, despite working over 35 hours a week, reveal mechanisms behind ambiguity within this group linked to organisational norms, previous working hours and divisions of household labour. The paper therefore argues workplace and household contexts are crucial to understanding employment status and recommends this should be taken into account in new multidimensional measures.
date: 2022
date_type: published
publisher: Informa UK Limited
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2021.1991888
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1995891
doi: 10.1080/13668803.2021.1991888
lyricists_name: Stovell, Clare
lyricists_id: CSTOV53
actors_name: Stovell, Clare
actors_id: CSTOV53
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Community, Work & Family
volume: 25
number: 1
pagerange: 63-83
citation:        Stovell, Clare;    Besamusca, Janna;      (2022)    Full-time hours, part-time work: questioning the sufficiency of working hours as a measure of employment status.                   Community, Work & Family , 25  (1)   pp. 63-83.    10.1080/13668803.2021.1991888 <https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2021.1991888>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10161908/1/FINAL%20PAPER.pdf