The forgotten labour force: Characteristics and trends for older female part-time workers in Ireland

There has been considerable and continuous academic interest in the rationale for so many women working part-time with much debate and little agreement on these reasons (e.g. Blossfeld and Hakim, 1997; Fagan and Rubery, 1996; Kalleberg, 2009; Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014; Yoon and Chung, 2016). In addition to occupation (Anxo et al., 2007; Galtier, 1999; Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014), recent studies have shown that personal characteristics such as age (Cassirer, 2003; Isusi and Corral, 2004), marital status (Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014; Thurman and Trah, 1990) and human capital attributes such as education and training (Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014) all contribute to the likelihood of women working part-time, as does the presence of children in the household (Anxo et al., 2007; Paull, 2008).

Factors associated with the workings of the labour market have also contributed to this trend (Cohen and Stier, 2006), including both demand- and supply-side influences in addition to institutional and regulatory factors. These factors include statutory provisions, collective agreements and family-friendly policies (Bönker and Wollmann, 2001; OECD, 2010; Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014). Demand-side factors such as the growth of the service sector (Blossfeld and Hakim, 1997; Buddelmeyer et al., 2008), product demand fluctuations (Reilly, 1998), short-term cost reduction techniques and production increases (Cassirer, 2003; Tilly, 1996) have all led to the increase in part-time employment.

Focusing on the supply-side of labour, women's increased labour market participation has occurred mostly in part-time employment with some groups of women showing a greater tendency toward part-time working such as younger women, older women and mothers of young children (Buddelmeyer et al., 2008; Isusi and Corral, 2004). Susan McRae (2003) points to factors such as parental sharing of household duties, greater childcare provision and women's changing lifestyles as having also contributed to a greater supply of female part-time workers as well as the flexibility part-time working offers in combining paid work with family demands, leisure activities and other interests (Fagan, 2003). In an Irish context, the number of women at work almost doubled between 1990 and 2014, mainly as a result of women moving from the home to part-time employment (Russell et al., 2002). This supply of female labour, especially women returners, has been labelled by Bruegel (1979: 12) as a ‘reserve army of labour’, to meet fluctuating labour demands.

Indeed much of the research in this area has focused on the reasons for younger, rather than older women working part-time. Consequently, little is known about why older women work part-time in Ireland, which characteristics are associated with these workers and what, if anything, has changed over time. In order to address this dearth of knowledge and to form a clearer picture of the characteristics associated with older female part-time workers (OFPTW), where they work and in which roles, an innovative profile was developed using demographic and socio-economic indicators drawn from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) in 2014. In addition, these characteristics are explored at two time periods to conduct a trend analysis for this cohort of worker in the Irish context.

Research in this area is particularly timely in the context of current Government policy to extend working lives, the prevalence of part-time work among older women in Ireland and the increasing focus on precarious employment. As a result, the focus of this paper is on the older cohort of women (aged 50 to 64) working part-time in Ireland. This is a cohort worthy of examination for a number of reasons. Firstly, as people age, the probability of working part-time increases (Barrett et al., 2011). Secondly, this cohort is noteworthy given the high rate of part-time work among older women in Ireland – over one-third of all working women and almost half of those aged over 50 worked part-time in 2017 (OECD, 2019). Finally, increases in life expectancy among older people, combined with the extension of the period of dependency on pensions and the reduction in the proportion of the working age population will necessitate older people working into their late 60s and beyond (Ghosheh Jr et al., 2006; Payne and Doyal, 2010). By providing some clarity on the characteristics associated with these workers and what has changed over time, we address the lacuna in this area in the Irish context.

By 2050, the United Nations (UN) predicts that almost one-third of the working age population in developed countries will be over 50 years of age (Armstrong-Stassen and Schlosser, 2011). In order to meet the European target of increasing the EU's employment rate of those aged 20 to 64 to a minimum of 75 percent, higher employment rates are required by women, older workers and young people (European Commission, 2017). Table 1 highlights the proportion of the population aged 50–64 as a percentage of the total population in the EU28 countries from 2006 to 2016. These statistics suggest that although Ireland's proportion of older people aged 50–64 is comparatively low, relative to the total population, its proportion has increased in recent years in line with other EU countries. In 2016, there were 808,893 people aged between 50 and 64 years of age living in Ireland; an increase of 11 percent on 2011 figures (CSO, 2016). Among this age cohort, almost two-thirds of men and fewer than half of the female population are at work.

Recent decades have witnessed a rapid expansion of part-time employment in most OECD countries (OECD, 2017). In the 1970s and 1980s in Northern Europe, this growth was as a result of married women working in service sector employment at times of labour shortages and increased product demand (Blossfeld and Hakim, 1997; Buddelmeyer et al., 2008; Reilly, 1998). Recently, part-time work has been viewed as a method of reducing unemployment in Europe (Smith et al., 2002). Notwithstanding these changes, defining part-time work is problematic and definitions vary on a number of levels including geography, industry sector, organisation and business unit. The OECD states that a definition of part-time work based on a 30 hour usual threshold is appropriate in terms of international comparison (Van Bastelaer et al., 1997). For the purposes of this research, part-time employees are defined as those who normally work less than approximately 30 hours per week (CSO, 2008a). Table 2 highlights some of the most commonly-used definitions of part-time employment/part-time workers.

Despite this popularity, part-time work is not equally spread across genders, age cohorts, occupations or sectors. Women are more likely than men to work part-time, accounting for 70 percent of part-time workers in Ireland in 2017 when 33 percent of women worked part-time compared with 12 percent of men (CSO, 2017a). As people in Ireland age, the likelihood of working part-time increases; older adults in Ireland work fewer hours and are more likely to work part-time as they approach State pension age (Barrett et al., 2011). Indeed the proportion of part-time workers in an Irish context has consistently been higher than the EU average; in 2018, 20.8 percent of workers in Ireland were employed part-time, compared with the EU average of 16.6 percent (OECD, 2019).

Notwithstanding the growth in part-time employment in recent times, defining and measuring job quality can be challenging (Warren and Lyonette, 2018). The literature predominantly considers part-time work to be poor quality, occupying the secondary labour market, attracting lower hourly pay, few promotional prospects and high turnover, poorer terms and conditions of employment and fewer training and promotional opportunities (Anxo et al., 2007; Collins, 2015; Fagan and Rubery, 1996; Tilly, 1996). However seminal work by Tilly (1996) and Kalleberg et al. (2000) question the notion of part-time jobs being uniformly bad.

In order to explore the worker characteristics and demographic and socio-economic trends over as long a period as possible for older women working part-time in Ireland, the QNHS datasets from quarter four in 1998 and 2014 were analysed. The QNHS is a large-scale, nationwide survey of households in Ireland, designed to produce quarterly labour force estimates in line with International Labour Office (ILO) classification. Prior to its replacement by a labour force survey in 2017, 3,000 households were surveyed each week to give a total sample of 39,000 households in each quarter. As questions relating to educational attainment had not been introduced in 1998, data from the fourth quarter in 2001 are used as the first time period to address this question. In addition, the socioeconomic characteristics of occupation, economic sector of employment and usual hours worked are analysed. The numbers of observations for the relevant quarter in each of the reference years are as follows (see Table 3 below).

Having discussed the most common profile of the OFPTW in 2014, attention now turns to analysing the trends for this cohort, explored using QNHS data relating to the fourth quarter in both 1998 and 2014. The demographic trends are analysed using indicators of nationality, marital status, family type and educational attainment. Socio-economic characteristics for this cohort are then parsed using indicators of public/private sector employment breakdown, economic sector of employment, occupation and usual hours worked.

Significantly, findings from the trend analysis reveal that the number of older women working part-time in the Irish labour market had more than doubled between 1998 and 2014. To put this in context, between 1994 and 2007, the numbers employed in the Irish labour market had practically doubled from 1.2 million to 2.1 million (Russell et al., 2017). Indeed, as noted by Sheehan et al. (2017), female employment numbers practically tripled in the 40-year period from 1966 to 2006 (from 289,144 to 822,808). Our finding show that female participation in the Irish labour market rose from 44.5% in 1998 to 52.4% in 2014, despite the Irish economy being plunged into deep recession between 2008 and 2014.

Our trend analysis demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of older women working part-time in both time periods were married, despite a slight decrease in the latter period. In both 1998 and 2014, almost half of all older women in the Irish labour market were employed on a part-time basis with the majority living as part of a couple with children.

On one hand, part-time working arrangements have been lauded as both facilitating caring responsibilities and allowing women to maintain a presence in the labour market, avoiding skills obsolescence and depreciation of their human capital (Hakim, 1996; Houseman, 2001; Rubery et al., 1994). However, despite its apparent benefits, women working part-time are more likely to be less educated, older and working in temporary, lower occupational jobs with poor job tenure (Manning and Petrongolo, 2008; Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014). In addition to the above characteristics, part-time jobs have typically been described as being rooted in the secondary labour market, which consists of ‘low level, unskilled jobs which require no specific training’ (Dekker et al., 2002, p.109; Tijdens, 2002). Salladarré and Hlaimi (2014) suggest that limited human capital attributes such as education and training contribute to the likelihood of women working part-time. These jobs are often inferior in nature, attract poorer conditions and rates of pay, offer fewer promotional prospects and provide less security of employment compared with full-time positions (Collins, 2015; Fernandez-Kranz and Rodriguez-Planas, 2011; Glover and Arber, 1995; Gornick and Jacobs, 1996; Ketsche and Branscomb, 2003; McDonald et al., 2006; Pembroke, 2018; Tijdens, 2002). Interestingly, in terms of the link between lower human capital accumulation and part-time employment, our trend analysis shows that highest educational attainment among this cohort had improved significantly over time. In the first period, more than one-third of this cohort had primary only as their highest educational attainment but by 2014, the highest proportion from this cohort had achieved higher secondary level education. These findings may however be partly as a result of cohort effect, thus reflecting an increase in educational attainment of the general population over time.

Our trend analysis shows a significant shift towards public sector working among OFPTW between time periods. In 1998, one in five workers from this cohort was employed in the public sector compared with more than half in 2014; a trend which was also reflected among the older cohort of females working full-time. This increase is noteworthy, particularly given the Irish Government's public sector recruitment embargo which was in place between 2009 and 2015. In terms of occupations, our analysis shows that the Administration/clerical (mid-level) and Personal services (lower-level) occupations recorded substantial increases in the percentages from this cohort working in these categories between periods. Indeed in both periods, over half of all OFPTW were employed in lower-level occupations. In addition to increases in the proportions of those working in Personal services occupations, our trend analysis shows reductions in the proportion working in Elementary (lower-level) occupations. There was also a decrease in the proportion working in higher-level occupations with increases in the proportions of OFPTW employed in mid-level occupations.

Our study reveals that the highest proportion of OFPTW was employed in Health sector of the economy in both time periods with a significant increase in the percentages employed in this sector in 2014. These increases may be partly due to factors including an ageing population and policy changes such as the National Positive Ageing Strategy (2013) and the introduction of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004) which seeks to provide special needs education in mainstream settings as far as possible.

As a result of the feminisation of the paid labour force in recent decades, more than one-third of all working women and almost half of all older women work part-time in Ireland. This phenomenon is not restricted to Ireland; part-time work has also become more prevalent across the EU in recent times (Eurostat, 2019; OECD, 2019). A better understanding of the demographic and socio-economic trends for these workers is vital, particularly in an era of population ageing where national governments and international organisations are promoting the extension of working lives and delayed retirement.

To understand what changes, if any, had occurred over time for this cohort, this study's revealing trend analysis shows that the numbers at work had more than doubled with a reduction in the proportion of those married with children. Highest educational attainment had increased significantly by 2014 with the largest proportion having received higher secondary education. Regarding socio-economic characteristics in 1998, this cohort predominantly worked in the private sector in lower-level (elementary) occupations in the Health sector, usually working 19 to 30 hours per week. By 2014, the majority of this cohort was working in the public sector in mid-level (clerical) roles in the Health sector, working an average of 19 to 30 hours per week.

This research makes a significant empirical contribution to the literature on older part-time workers by providing, for the first time, a detailed and descriptive profile of the older female working part-time in Ireland using key demographic and socio-economic variables from a 2014 representative labour force dataset. In doing so, it informs many of the key debates and gaps evident in the older female labour market participation literature. Our analysis shows the likely profile of older women working part-time in Ireland in 2014 to be Irish, married with children, having completed secondary-level education, employed in the public sector in a clerical role in the Health sector working between 19 and 30 hours per week.

In addition to this unique profile, variables are drawn from three labour force datasets over a 16-year time period to address the literature gap by giving a descriptive analysis of who the typical older female part-time worker is, where they work and in what capacity, as well as shedding light on what has changed over this 16-year period. This novel trend analysis highlights significant changes in demographic and socio-economic characteristics for this worker cohort over time. Over this period, the numbers at work had more than doubled, as had the proportion of non-Irish among this cohort. There was a reduction in the proportion that was married, with increased percentages among those of single status and divorced/legally separated and greater percentages of OFPTW being in couples with no children or lone parent families. The most significant demographic change between periods relates to education levels. Highest educational attainment had increased substantially by 2014 with the largest proportion having received higher secondary education, compared with primary/none in 2001. In terms of socio-economic trends, in 1998 OFPTW were predominantly working in the private sector in elementary occupations in the Health sector, usually working 19 to 30 hours per week. By 2014, the majority of this cohort was working in the public sector in clerical roles in the Health sector, working an average of 19 to 30 hours per week.

This comprehensive descriptive trend analysis provides extensive empirical evidence to enlighten our understanding of the demographic and socio-economic changes which have occurred over time for this worker cohort employed in the Irish labour market. These insights are crucial to inform public and organisational policy on part-time labour market participation. Research on part-time working by females has primarily focused on younger, rather than older, working women (e.g. Blossfeld and Hakim, 1997; Fagan and Rubery, 1996; Kalleberg, 2009; Salladarré and Hlaimi, 2014; Yoon and Chung, 2016). Accordingly, this study addresses this chasm by enriching our understanding of who the ‘typical’ older woman working part-time in Ireland is and what has changed over time for this cohort.

Despite the fact that Ireland has witnessed a dramatic increase in the proportion of women in the Irish labour force in recent times, females are more likely than males to work part-time and as people in Ireland age, the likelihood of working part-time increases. The findings from this study demonstrate that, irrespective of educational attainment, older, female part-time employment in Ireland is mainly limited to certain occupations and economic sectors of employment, typically associated with low-pay. These findings raise serious concerns for the potential and likelihood for precarious employment for OFPTW and have implications at the individual, organisational and societal levels and speak to the value which is placed on the work undertaken by older females who work part-time. Policy changes are required to enable older women returners to re-enter a workforce which has changed significantly in recent times. Government plans announced in Budget 2020 to develop ‘returnships’ is a welcome first step. Despite initiatives such as the introduction of a universal preschool year in 2010 and an Affordable Childcare Scheme (2017), childcare costs in Ireland are among the highest in the OECD (Daly, 2011; Holland, 2016; McGinnity et al., 2015; Ní Léime et al., 2017). Organisations must also play their part by introducing family friendly, flexible work practices in addition to offering part-time jobs in a wider range of occupations and economic sectors.

Researchers (e.g. Fredman, 2004; Pollert and Charlwood, 2009) highlight the vulnerability of women who alternate between paid and unpaid work. Indeed previous studies indicate that the combination of low pay and part-time employment increases the risk of in-work poverty, with older working women representing one of the most economically vulnerable social groups (Axelrad and Mcnamara, 2017; Brülle et al., 2019). In addition to short-term consequences of low pay and employment insecurity, many researchers (e.g. Collins and Murphy, 2016; King, 2019; O’Connor, 2009) highlight precarious employment in the Irish context as leading to inadequate pension provision in later life. A better awareness is required among women of the short- and long-term financial implications of intermittent work attachment and part-time employment. In January 2018, the Irish government announced that it is seeking to address the anomalies brought about by the changes to eligibility for the State pension (contributory) which has reduced pension entitlements by up to €1,500 annually for 20,941 women from 2012 to 2016. In addition, the Irish Government recently legislated for improved working conditions for low-hours’ workers through The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018. From an organisational perspective, the implementation of this legislation, in addition to recent increases in minimum wage rates, may lead to increased costs associated with employing part-time workers.

Increases in life expectancy among older people, combined with the extension of the period of dependency on pensions and the reduction in the proportion of the working age population will necessitate older people working into their late 60s and beyond (Ghosheh Jr et al., 2006; Payne and Doyal, 2010). Given that adults are living longer and will not be eligible for state pensions until older ages, Kulik et al. (2014) posit that the challenges are threefold for management practice regarding older workers: who is to be managed – an older and increasingly female workforce; what is to be managed – altered traditional norms for career entry, progression and exit and also how older employees are recruited, motivated and retained in line with national positive ageing strategies. Despite these challenges, employers benefit from having access to an older, experienced, educated supply of workers and older workers profit by extending their working lives, boosting their pension contributions and having the opportunity to grow their savings (Maestas and Zissimopoulos, 2010).

Given the prevalence of part-time employment among older women in Ireland, our analysis challenges Picchio and van Ours (2016) contention that the quality of part-time employment increases in line with the growth in the proportion of part-time workers in the labour market. In agreement with many researchers (e.g. Bardasi and Gornick, 2008; Collins and Murphy, 2016; Gash, 2008; Kalleberg, 2011; King, 2019), these findings raise questions regarding the availability of good quality part-time jobs in Ireland, suggesting that part-time employment by older females in Ireland (the forgotten labour force) may be more about ‘avoiding unemployment rather than enhancing work-family balance or working preferences’ (Fagan and Walthery, 2013, p.197). This study's findings lead to the conclusion that it is primarily the characteristics of the job, rather than the person, which dictate the terms and conditions of employment in Ireland.