Part-Time Employment and Women's Health

Abstract

The relationships between part-time employment and self-reported health are analyzed for a national probability sample of middle-aged women. Overall, there was a tendency for full-time workers to have the best health, part-time workers to have an intermediate level of health, and women who were not in the labor force to have the poorest health. However, the pattern varied by race and marital status. For married black women, part-time workers reported poorer health than full-time workers. This appeared to be due in part to the lower socioeconomic status of the black part-time workers. For married white women, there was little or no difference in health or socioeconomic status between part-time and full-time workers. Additional hypotheses and relevant evidence are presented.