Part-time work hits a record in the US as more women enter the labor force
In for breakfast… out by lunch. More Americans than ever are working less than 35 hours a week, fresh Labor Department stats have shown. In March there were a record 29.2M part-time employees, making up over ~17% of the workforce — the biggest slice of the job market since 2020. As companies still struggle to fill pandemic-depleted openings, some are offering part-time options and flexitime. FYI: there are still 1.7M fewer Americans in the workforce than prepandemic.
Side hustle: As inflation eats into budgets, more than half of Americans have taken on a side gig (in addition to their main job) in the past year, a recent study said.
Part-time pref: Most American part-timers are doing it for reasons like childcare, education, or family obligations — not necessarily because they couldn’t find a full-time job.
Moms on duty… While teens and retirees have long made up the bulk of part-timers, prime working-age women are taking the lead. After millions of women dropped out of the workforce during the pandemic “she-cession,” a record share of women ages 25 to 54 are now participating. Women typically shoulder most childcare duties, but in March the rate of employed women with a child under age 5 rose to nearly 70%. Part-time work has boosted women’s labor-force participation, with around a fifth now working part-time as childcare costs soar. Last year the costs of childcare services in the US grew at more than double the rate of inflation.
9-to-2 is the new 9-to-5… Many who lost their jobs or retired early during the pandemic aren’t rushing back to work full-time. A 2022 survey by the US Chamber of Commerce said about half of working-age Americans were turning down positions that didn’t offer WFH options. People age 25 to 34 said they were prioritizing personal development over a 9-to-5 grind. Meanwhile, a record 4.1M Americans could retire this year. Women — and increasingly immigrant workers — are helping fill the labor gap.