Working Below Potential: Women and Part-Time Work in West Sussex Dr. Linda Grant Gender and Employment in Local Labour Markets programme Sheffield Hallam University

Working Below Potential: Women and Part-Time Work in West Sussex  Study of women working in low paid, part- time jobs  To find out why women do not always use all of their skills or experience or qualifications when they work in part-time jobs?  Study approach included: Statistical analysis Face to face interviews with senior managers Survey of part-time women workers in participating workplaces Face to face interviews with part-time women workers

West Sussex: Women and Part-Time Work  A high percentage of working women in West Sussex work part-time West Sussex: 40% England:39%  Between 1991 and 2002 in West Sussex Women’s part-time jobs grew: +22,000 Women’s full-time jobs grew: +13,500  By 2002, 32% of all jobs in West Sussex were part-time jobs Up from 30% 10 years earlier  By 2004, 35% of all jobs in West Sussex were part-time jobs Data sources used in this presentation are indicated in the study report Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO.

West Sussex: Growth of Part-time Jobs  Part-time jobs as a percentage of all employment growth: Distribution, hotels, restaurants - 76% Public admin, education, health - 72% Transport and communications - 43%  Part-time women’s jobs as a percentage of all employment growth Public admin, education and health – 67% Distribution, hotels and restaurants – 41%

West Sussex: Growth of Part-time Jobs  Growth of part-time women’s jobs as a percentage of all women’s employment growth Transport and communications – 54% Distribution, hotels, restaurants –82% Public admin, education, health – 67%  Importance of the growth of women’s part-time employment in West Sussex

Part-time employment and ethnicity

Occupations of part-time women workers in West Sussex Women’s part-time jobs concentrated in low paid sectors in England This concentration not as marked in West Sussex Percentage of part-time women workers in lowest paid occupations  West Sussex 16%  Crawley18%  England 21% Percentage of part-time women workers in range of low paid jobs  West Sussex55%  Crawley61%  England59%

Occupations of part-time women workers in West Sussex High paid part-time jobs not as scarce as in England – but fewer in Crawley Percentage of part-time women workers in high paid jobs  West Sussex 46%  Crawley37%  England42% Percentage of part-time women workers in highest paid jobs  West Sussex 10%  Crawley6%  England 10%

Working Below Potential in Low Paid, Part-time Jobs  National/EOC Survey– 53% of women  West Sussex Survey – 55% of women  National/EOC Survey – 3.8 million women  West Sussex Survey – 30,500 women  Staggering under-use of women’s skills, talents, experience and qualifications in West Sussex….why is this happening?

Why do women work below their potential? 5 explanations  Few high paid, senior part-time jobs on open labour market “I want to work part-time but professional work, the professional side of things is what is hard to find part-time. It is hard.”  Few opportunities for promotion for part-time workers I said I’d like training on basically anything that would need any training…and I never heard anything at all. I just said, well, I’m not going to pursue it because I know it’s because I’m part-time. If I wanted to go up the ladder to supervisory I’d have to go full-time.”

Why do women work below their potential?  Because of intensity of work in senior jobs “I was a sales manager. I did that full-time …It was supposedly 9 to 5 but it was really long hours…After three years of doing that job I was just ill in the end. Now my job fits around my life.”  Taking steps to realise potential “I am studying part-time for a professional accountancy qualification but most of the time when I go searching for a job they want experience.”  Content to work below potential “There really are too many other things going on in my life to worry about the pressures of the kind of job I had in the past… I am quite happy.”

Pay and part-time jobs in West Sussex  Average hourly pay rates in 2005 Part-time women workers £7.55 Full-time women workers £8.53 Full-time male workers £12.20  Part-time women workers earn only 62p for every £1 earned by full-time men workers  One quarter of part-time women workers earned less than £90 a week in 2005

Women’s views about pay rates  In workplaces taking part in research pay ranged from £5.05 an hour to £8.50 an hour  “I get paid £5.05 an hour and sometimes I sit here and think, well, that’s not much for what I do. We’re on the minimum wage and that’s it.”  “I think the pay is diabolical. It is when I think what I was earning.”

Why are part-time jobs at lower levels?  Found two reasons why employers design jobs as part-time  ‘Task-based’ part-time jobs Task can be completed in limited time scale Typical jobs care assistant, learning support worker, cleaner Employer only pays for time when task being performed Employees seen as easily replaced

Why are part-time jobs at lower levels?  ‘Demand-based’ part-time jobs Jobs only need to be carried out during part of working day or week. Filling gaps in full-time cover or boosting numbers at specific times of day or week Typical jobs include checkout operator, assembly workers, security worker, bar worker Employees seen as flexible

Could we have more senior level part- time jobs?  Some women work part-time in senior jobs….but usually because negotiated a special deal  Most senior jobs are full-time  Line managers tend to replace ‘like with like’ “Not a lot of thought goes in - ‘should this be a part-time job?’ Someone leaves, the person’s full-time and the line manager doesn’t think – can I do this is a different way?.”  Managers generally resistant to part- time in senior jobs

Could we have more senior level part- time jobs?  Some managers disappointed that resistance to part-time at senior levels “There is a view that part-time’s OK but only for jobs down here.”  Some managers argued necessary to rethink the content of jobs and introduce new systems “We need to be more proactive about how we see roles…we want to recruit the best so we shouldn’t be narrowing everything down to full-time…so we are going in the right direction, but we are not there yet.”

Recommendations: Employers  Adopt a more strategic approach to the design of jobs and the replacement of employees  Rethink the value of part-time working and part- time employees  Recognise the wider benefits of part-time working  Take a risk – offer part-time job opportunities at every level  Offer senior jobs on a part-time basis on the open labour market  Address the long hours culture  Ensure part-time workers can progress

Recommendations: Local Authorities and partners  Acknowledge the waste of local women’s talents and skills  Adopt good practice  Encourage employer partners to ‘ take a risk’  Work with partners to extend and advertise the training and education opportunities open to women returners  Work with partners to develop financial support for women returners seeking to upgrade skills and qualifications

Working Below Potential: Women and Part-time Work in West Sussex by Linda Grant, Sue Yeandle & Lisa Buckner (2006) is published by the Centre for Social Inclusion, Sheffield Hallam University. Similar studies are being published in 2006 in co-operation with local authorities in Camden, Thurrock, Leicester, and Wakefield. Working Below Potential: Women and Part-time Work: synthesis report, bringing together findings from all 6 localities, will be available in July 2006 **** The GELLM project, in collaboration with West Sussex County Council, has also published: The Gender Profile of West Sussex’s Local Labour Market (2004) by L Buckner, N Tang and S Yeandle Addressing women's poverty in West Sussex: Local Labour Market Initiatives (2006) by K Escott, C Price and L Buckner Local Challenges in Meeting Demand for Domiciliary Care in West Sussex (2006) by S Yeandle, L Shipton and L Buckner