The number of women engaged in part time work across Australia has declined in the past few years, a recent research report shows.
The number of women engaged in part time work across Australia has declined in the past few years, a recent research report shows.
Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency today released the ninth report in the Gender Equity Insights Series, examining part-time work across the country.
The report found Australia has one of the highest shares of part-time employment among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
However, the report found only 29.7 per cent of part-time workers are women, representing a 3.2 per cent drop in the past three years.
Full-time roles that involved flexible work arrangements have risen 2.3 cent for the same period, the report found.
Report author and BCEC director Alan Duncan said there had been a re-evaluation of part-time work, with more people valuing flexibility and autonomy.
WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said the findings reinforced the need for employers to ensure jobs were inclusive, outside of a full-time mindset.
“Women and men working part time still face a promotion barrier due to the lack of flexible working arrangements and the capacity to work part time as managers,” she said.
“Women are twice as likely to work part time, so improvement in availability and support for part-time work will be a positive step for gender equality in Australia.
“Men also benefit from arrangements that better align with how, when, and where they want to work.
“Enabling more management roles to be undertaken part time and/or flexibly will expand employers’ access to a greater talent pool and support reducing their gender pay gap.”
Mr Duncan said the most significant increases in the share of women in full-time work over the past three years have been those aged between 35 to 55.
“Driven by technological advancements, changing workforce demographics and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing demand for flexible work options presents a significant opportunity for women to enhance their economic participation and career progression,” he said.
“While these trends indicated a structural shift towards full-time employment and away from part-time work for many working women, the same isn’t true for men, where patterns of work between full-time, part-time and casual employment have remained mainly constant over the same three-year period.
“Of those working part time, a rising share of both women and men are choosing part-time work out of preference and fewer are citing care of children as the main reason for doing so.
“However, an increasing number of women are also turning to part-time work because it’s their only option.”
BCEC researcher and report co-author Silvia Salazar said while the findings showed work for women was less common in larger, male-dominated companies, having women on company boards significantly increased part-time opportunities.
“Implementing policies on flexible work and conducting pay gap audits are crucial for promoting flexible work arrangements and advancing pay equity, particularly for female managers," she said.
“As part-time work decreases, more people prefer additional flexible work options. This trend presents an opportunity for employers to make these arrangements standard without harming employee experiences.
“The move away from part-time work is particularly evident among non-managers across various industry sectors, so businesses must not focus solely on gender equity for managers and senior executives at the expense of non-managerial roles."
