A Cross-National Analysis of the Wages of Part-Time Workers: Evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia

Abstract

We analyse wage differentials between part-time and full-time workers in four English-speaking countries, using cross-nationally comparable data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS). An analysis of gross wage gaps (that is, unadjusted for human capital- and job-related differences) reveals that women part-time workers earn significantly less per hour than do their full-time counter-parts in all of these countries. In an analysis of net wage gaps (wage gaps adjusted for a range of explanatory variables) we assess the extent to which wage differentials can be explained by measurable differences in human capital-related attributes, and in occupational and industrial variables. Findings indicate that part-time workers are positioned differently within the labour markets of these countries, and that cross-national differences in part-time versus fill-time wages cannot be explained fully by inter-country differences in the degree of wage dispersion. Finally, we discuss policies and institutions that contribute to different outcomes across countries.