Reexamining Involuntary Part-Time Employment1

Abstract

Official statistics indicate that involuntary part-time employment (part-time employment theo­ retically accepted only because full-time employment is not available) has more than tripled over the last twenty years, increasing substantially more rapidly than even unemployment and now encompassing about three million workers. The goal of this study is to examine the empirical definition of involuntary part-time employment, and to see how sensitive the level and trend in involuntary part-time employment are to the particular definition employed. Results suggest that official estimates of involuntary part-time employment may be high - perhaps 50% too high. While the level is quite sensitive, the alarming trend in inVOluntary part-time employment is robust to a variety of alternative empirical definitions.