Part-time Work and the Workers’ Age and Sex

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to present spatial diversity in the use of flexible forms of employment with special emphasis on part-time work among women and men aged 50+ in the European Union. Demographic changes, including the ageing of the EU population, show the necessity of rationally utilizing available labour resources. Because the level of occupational activity is declining with age, while the share of people aged 50+ in the population is growing, the possibility of doing parttime work that allows reconciliation between occupational life and non-occupational life seems important. This form of employment can also constitute an important transitional stage between occupational activity and retirement. The analyses presented in the paper are based on data from Eurostat and include the years between 2003 and 2017. The conducted studies show significantdifferences in the utilization of part-time work in EU countries especially when age and gender are taken into consideration.