Reason for working part-time

Most part-time workers do not want to work full time

• About three-quarters of part-timers (2.1 million people) chose to work less than 30 hours a week in 2003. Young people, women aged 25 to 54 and older workers were most likely to prefer shorter hours. Most youth choose part-time work because they are attending school. Older workers choose shorter hours as a personal preference; for many, it is a transition phase on the way to retirement.
• Adult women often work part time because of personal or family responsibilities. Although both spouses are working in most families today, data on time use from the 2001 Census showed that adult women are more likely to put in longer hours in the home.
• On the other hand, of the 290,000 men aged 25 to 54 years who worked part time in 2003, the majority (53%) said they could not find full-time work because of poor economic or business conditions. Of the 47% who worked part time by choice that year, most did so as a personal preference or because they were going to school.

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