PI: Andrew Fullerton Oklahoma State University
SES-1324019 PI: Jeffrey Dixon Holy Cross College
Part-time work is an important potential source of insecurity that workers around the world face, but it is understudied in the context of worker insecurity, partly because of the cross-national variation in the meanings and measurements of part-time work. This project examines the relationship between part-time work and several forms of perceived worker insecurity, including the perceived threat of job loss in the near future, worries about the threat of job loss, and the perceived difficulty of finding a comparable job in the labor market. Focusing on multiple levels of analysis, this project asks: Do part-time workers feel more insecure than full-time workers? Does this vary by country? At the country level, what is the relationship between the size of the part-time workforce and average levels of insecurity? Based on individual-level data from the 2005 International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Work Orientations III module linked to macro-level data, preliminary results reveal that workers in part-time jobs feel more insecure than workers in full-time jobs, all else equal. However, the size of the part-time gap in worker insecurity varies substantially across countries, and countries with higher rates of part-time work tend to have lower levels of average worker insecurity. To account for these seemingly contradictory findings, the investigators develop a model of the "institutionalization of part-time work," which refers to the creation and perpetuation of scripts and shared rules that guide decisions and actions regarding employers' use of part-time work. Using this framework, the research hypothesizes that the gap in perceived worker insecurity between part-time and full-time workers will be smallest in countries in which part-time work has been institutionalized to such a degree that: A) a substantial number of men work part-time (even if most part-time workers are women), B) part-time workers have the same legal protections and benefits as full-time workers, C) most part-time workers are employed in those positions voluntarily, and D) part-time work is not concentrated in low-wage occupations. This model will be tested with ISSP and other survey data linked to macro-level data, including a country-level dataset that will contain aggregate measures of part-time work and other labor market characteristics for more than 50 countries and several time points between 2000 and 2010.
Broader Impacts The knowledge gained from this study about the sources of perceived worker insecurity has important implications for scholars and policy makers concerned with the consequences of part-time and other forms of non-standard work on workers' health, families, and communities. The results will also bear on debates about "flexicurity" policies in parts of Europe, which are intended to reconcile employer preferences for flexible work arrangements (such as part-time work) with employment security for workers. Furthermore, the new country-level dataset will be made available to interested scholars, teachers, and researchers to examine part-time work and other types of non-standard work. These data can also be supplemented with other macro- or micro-level data to examine other socioeconomic outcomes. Additionally, this project will involve undergraduate and graduate students who have an interest in quantitative methods of research, comparative sociology, and work and occupations, and the researchers will seek assistants who will help in each stage of this project and gain valuable research skills as a result. Finally, the principal investigators will produce several presentations and scholarly publications based on this project.
