Part-Time Work in EU

The European Union
Eurostat

When asked if working part-time, 16% of all employed people in the EU say 'yes', Eurostat - Statistical Office of the European Communities in Luxembourg - reveals. And 63% of part-timers aged 25 and over say they don't want a full-time job.

Part-time work is most prevalent in the Netherlands (38%); least so in Greece (5%).

Today's report analyses 1996 Community labour force survey data. It states: "Part-time work is often seen as a policy measure to increase the number of employed persons by promoting work-sharing. It can also be an efficient tool for firms to respond to peaks in demand for goods and services in a particular period or to extend the opening hours.

"Finally, part-time work meets the specific conditions…for people who like to combine it with an education or their family care."

Key findings:

• Part-time work varies from lows in Greece (5%), Italy (7%), Luxembourg (8%), Spain (8%) and Portugal (9%) to highs in Denmark (21%) Sweden (23%), the UK (24%) and particularly the Netherlands (38%).
• EU-wide, 63% of part-timers aged 25 and over say they don't want a full-time job. This is highest in the Netherlands (88%) and the UK (84%).
• For 18% of part-timers aged 25 and over, it's not what they prefer but they can't find full-time work. Highs are in Finland (46%), France and Greece (both 37%).
• In Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands 40-57% of 15 to 24-year-olds have a part-time job. EU-wide, half combine it with education and training.

32% women part-time, 5% men

• Part-time work is more frequent among women: 32% of total female employment compared with 5% for men. The Netherlands is way ahead with 69% of the female workforce part-time. In Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, part-time employment of women is some 10 times that of men.
• Part-time work is highest in distribution (20% of total employment), hotels and restaurants (25%) and other services (29%). Over half of those employed in other services in the Netherlands are part-time, nearly a half in Sweden and the UK and around a third in Denmark.
• EU part-timers usually work less than 31 hours a week but 10% work more. In Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK around a quarter of part-time jobs are under 11 hours. In these Member States plus Sweden, France and Portugal, 10% of part-timers have a second job.
• Young part-timers, particularly in Denmark (59%) and the Netherlands (55%), tend to have jobs of less than 11 hours a week. Their proportion is also over 40% in Germany, Sweden and the UK.
• 19% of EU part-timers have a limited duration contract compared with 10% of full-time employees.

Part-time work in the EU, 1996

1 1995

2 The other categories (ie to sum to 100%) are part-timers in education & training or those who gave no reason.

* Eurostat Statistics in focus, Population and social conditions, no 13/97, Part-time work in the European Union.