Conforming Work
Transforming work
Working Paper Series
No. 47
Employment transitions over the life cycle: a literature review
Diane Perrons
Wendy Sigle-Rushton
London School of Economics
Employment transitions over the life cycle: a literature review
Diane Perrons and Wendy Sigle-Rushton
London School of Economics
© Equal Opportunities Commission 2006
First published Autumn 2006
ISBN 1 84206 181 X
EOC WORKING PAPER SERIES
The EOC Working Paper Series provides a channel for the dissemination of research carried out by externally commissioned researchers.
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission or other participating organisations. The
Commission …show more content…
The part-time pay penalty arises in part because part-time workers are different from fulltime workers in terms of their biographical characteristics and in the occupations in which they work. Part-time workers are more likely to have lower qualifications, to be part of a couple and to have an above average number of young children. They are also more likely to be working in small firms, and in distribution, hotels and restaurants. In addition, part-time work is associated with a ‘brain drain’, or wasted talent, because current forms of flexibility are disproportionately associated with lower status and lower paid work. One recent study found that 5.6 million people working part-time, or one in five of the working population, work below their potential (Darton and Hurrell, 2005).
Lone parents
The proportion of lone parents participating in employment has increased in recent years, though the Government 's target of 70 per cent has not yet been reached. In common with partnered parents, lone parents must coordinate the temporal and spatial logistics of co-ordinating, work, education, and child care. However, for lone …show more content…
8
As the labour market has become more flexible, concerns have been expressed about employment insecurity, where the evidence is very mixed (see Doogan, 2005;
Green, 2006; Fenton and Dermott, 2006), and employment intensity, for which evidence is clearer. Increasing intensity is reported in qualitative studies (Brannen,
2005) and confirmed by aggregate survey data (Green, 2006). It is linked to changing employment practices, the privatisation of public sector services and the increase in temporary employment agencies (Rubery et al, 2005). Intensity matters because, similarly to the concerns about working hours, it is likely to influence people’s decisions about labour market participation and can lead to a change of employer, sector, skill requirement, prospects and pay (Manning and Petrongolo, 2004; Dex and Bond, 2005; EOC, 2005) and to withdrawal from the labour market altogether
(Sigle-Rushton and Perrons, 2006). 9 Clearly if work is becoming more demanding, then the difficulty of combining it with caring responsibilities is intensified.
8
9
This earnings gap reflects the overall lower qualifications among ethnic minorities, but there
Working Paper Series
No. 47
Employment transitions over the life cycle: a literature review
Diane Perrons
Wendy Sigle-Rushton
London School of Economics
Employment transitions over the life cycle: a literature review
Diane Perrons and Wendy Sigle-Rushton
London School of Economics
© Equal Opportunities Commission 2006
First published Autumn 2006
ISBN 1 84206 181 X
EOC WORKING PAPER SERIES
The EOC Working Paper Series provides a channel for the dissemination of research carried out by externally commissioned researchers.
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission or other participating organisations. The
Commission …show more content…
The part-time pay penalty arises in part because part-time workers are different from fulltime workers in terms of their biographical characteristics and in the occupations in which they work. Part-time workers are more likely to have lower qualifications, to be part of a couple and to have an above average number of young children. They are also more likely to be working in small firms, and in distribution, hotels and restaurants. In addition, part-time work is associated with a ‘brain drain’, or wasted talent, because current forms of flexibility are disproportionately associated with lower status and lower paid work. One recent study found that 5.6 million people working part-time, or one in five of the working population, work below their potential (Darton and Hurrell, 2005).
Lone parents
The proportion of lone parents participating in employment has increased in recent years, though the Government 's target of 70 per cent has not yet been reached. In common with partnered parents, lone parents must coordinate the temporal and spatial logistics of co-ordinating, work, education, and child care. However, for lone …show more content…
8
As the labour market has become more flexible, concerns have been expressed about employment insecurity, where the evidence is very mixed (see Doogan, 2005;
Green, 2006; Fenton and Dermott, 2006), and employment intensity, for which evidence is clearer. Increasing intensity is reported in qualitative studies (Brannen,
2005) and confirmed by aggregate survey data (Green, 2006). It is linked to changing employment practices, the privatisation of public sector services and the increase in temporary employment agencies (Rubery et al, 2005). Intensity matters because, similarly to the concerns about working hours, it is likely to influence people’s decisions about labour market participation and can lead to a change of employer, sector, skill requirement, prospects and pay (Manning and Petrongolo, 2004; Dex and Bond, 2005; EOC, 2005) and to withdrawal from the labour market altogether
(Sigle-Rushton and Perrons, 2006). 9 Clearly if work is becoming more demanding, then the difficulty of combining it with caring responsibilities is intensified.
8
9
This earnings gap reflects the overall lower qualifications among ethnic minorities, but there