Annual working time: The part-time phenomenon

Abstract

"Up to the middle of the 1990s, the drop in working time was mainly due to the decrease in weekly working time under collective wage agreements, the extension of holiday entitlements and the reduction in average overtime. Since then, however, the drop in average working time has almost exclusively been a result of the spread in part-time work. In other words, the decrease in average annual working time is no longer the result of overall working time reductions but essentially of structural changes on the labour market, in particular increased differentiation in employment structures. Whether the trend towards part-time work will continue in the long run is questionable: in view of the demographically conditioned, long-term decline in available labour, there is now here a working hour potential which could be activated. The prerequisite for this is the creation of the corresponding framework conditions: this includes major investments in education, just as much as more and better opportunities of childcare and family-friendly working conditions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku)

Cite article

Wanger, S. (2008): Jahresarbeitszeit: Das Teilzeitphänomen. In: IAB-Forum No. 2, p. 28-33.