Key Points
- Part-time employment among women fell 3.2 percentage points to 29.7 percent over the past five years.
- The number of women in full-time employment increased from 40.2 percent to 42.5 percent during the same period.
- Researchers said flexible working – including remote, hybrid and adapted schedules – is a priority for many women.
The share of women working part-time decreases as more of them choose become common during the pandemic.
The forced work-from-home experience caused by COVID-19 lockdowns is normalized and other working methods coveted by everyone, but especially by those looking for flexibility to balance their family responsibilities.
Research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Bankwest Curtin Economics Center suggests that a broader understanding of flexibility beyond part-time creates opportunities for greater gender equity.
Alan Duncan, co-author of the report, said part-time employment remained an attractive alternative for those balancing caring responsibilities and other activities, but had disadvantages.
This could lead to long-term economic disadvantage, including lower lifetime earnings and reduced retirement savings, Duncan said at the launch of an online report.
“Women make up three-quarters of the total part-time workforce, making part-time work a gender issue,” he said.
Part-time employment among women fell 3.2 percentage points to 29.7 percent over the past five years.
During the same period, the proportion of women officially classified as having full-time employment increased from 40.2 percent to 42.5 percent, in line with the growing prevalence of remote work and other jobs non-traditional flexible.
The pandemic “broke the back” of negative perceptions around flexible and non-traditional working, as employers were forced to recognize that organizational performance was little compromised, Duncan said.
Yet “prehistoric” views persisted, including the idea that flexibility meant workers were paid “full” for fewer hours.
“It’s definitely not a good state of mind,” he said.
Focusing on work outcomes rather than hours spent in the office was recommended to improve job design and promote inclusion.
Part-time and flexible work remains rarer at management level, Monday’s report found.
Aware Super chief of staff Katrina McPhee said the pressure of “always needing to be there” was a deterrent for women who had to balance caring responsibilities and other demands.
“We potentially need to rethink how this works from a workload perspective,” she said at the report launch.
Agency head Mary Wooldridge said the report’s findings reinforced the need to design inclusive jobs and abandon the “full-time mentality”.
“Flexibility stigma” remains a problem, with promotion rates falling sharply for part-time workers outside of management.
“By adopting flexible working practices and addressing the challenges associated with part-time employment, employers are creating a fairer and more supportive working environment for all employees,” she said.
The report’s key recommendations included normalizing flexible working and monitoring career progression to spot barriers to promotion.
