Using panel data from the Spanish Labour Force Survey (2008–2016), we explore the risks and opportunities of job transitions (to unemployment, inactivity, full-time work and promotion) of female immigrants and natives in part-time work. This is the first study examining the two possible functions of part-time employment (stepping stone or trap) for different types of women across different working time categories. It contributes to the ongoing discussion about the function of non-standard work by applying an intersectional lens. Our results confirm that the signalling of different types of part-time job works positively, although the signal is weaker for immigrant women, particularly for those working in marginal and substantial part-time employment. The main sociodemographic and structural drivers of labour transitions explain only partially the gross migrant–native differences. As female immigrants experience a stronger outsider position, additional determinants of signalling beyond human capital and labour market segmentation factors might be at work.
BarbieriP (2009) Flexible employment and inequality in Europe. European Sociological Review25(6): 621–628.
2.
BardasiEGornickJ (2008) Working for less? Women’s part-time wage penalties across countries. Feminist Economics14(1): 37–72.
3.
BeckerG (1964) Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special References to Education. New York: Columbia University Press.
4.
BehamBDrobničSPrägP, et al (2018) Part-time work and gender inequality in Europe: a comparative analysis of satisfaction with work-life balance. European Societies21: 378–402.
5.
BernardiFGarridoLMiyarM (2011) The recent fast upsurge of immigrants in Spain and their employment patterns and occupational attainment. International Migration49(1): 148–187.
6.
BettioFSimonazziAVillaP (2006) Change in care regimes and female migration: the care drain in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy16(3): 271–285.
7.
BlankR (1998) Labour market dynamics and part-time work. In: PolacheckSW (ed.) Research in Labor Economics. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, pp. 57–93.
8.
BlázquezMMoralJ (2014) Women’s part-time jobs: ‘Flexirisky’ employment in five European countries. International Labour Review153(2): 269–292.
9.
BlázquezMRamosN (2009) Part-time employment: a comparative analysis of Spain and the Netherlands. European Journal of Law and Economics28(3): 223–256.
10.
BlossfeldHPHakimC (eds) (1997) Between Equalisation and Marginalisation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11.
BöheimRWeberA (2011) The effects of marginal employment on subsequent labour market outcomes. German Economic Review12(2): 165–181.
12.
BuddelmeyerHMourreGWard-WarmedingerM (2005) Part-time work in EU countries: Labour market mobility, entry and exit. IZA Discussion Papers, No. 1550. Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
13.
CaliendoMWrohlichK (2010) Evaluating the German ‘Mini-jobs’ reform using a true natural experiment. Applied Economics42(19): 2475–2489.
14.
ChiswickBLiang LeeYMillerP (2005) Immigrant earnings: a longitudinal analysis. Review of Income and Wealth51: 485–503.
15.
ConnollyMGregoryM (2008) The part-time pay penalty: earnings trajectories of British women. Oxford Economic Papers61(1): i76–i97.
16.
ConnollySGregoryM (2010) Dual tracks: part-time work in life-cycle employment for British women. Population Economics23(3): 907–931.
17.
Da RoitBGonzalez FerrerAMoreno-FuentesF (2013) The Southern European migrant-based care model: long-term care and employment trajectories in Italy and Spain. European Societies15(4): 577–596.
EliasP (1990) Part-time work and part-time workers: keeping women in or out? In: McRaeS (ed.) Keeping Women In. London: Policy Studies Institute, pp. 67–81.
20.
EmmeneggerPPalierBSeeleib-KaiserM (2012) The Age of Dualization: The Changing Face of Inequality in Deindustrializing Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
21.
EriksonRGoldthorpeJPortocarreroL (1979) Intergenerational class mobility in three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden. British Journal of Sociology30: 415–441.
22.
Eurofound (2018) Non-standard Forms of Employment: Recent Trends and Future Prospects. Dublin: Eurofound.
23.
FaganCBurchellB (2002) Gender, Jobs and Working Conditions in the European Union. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
24.
Fernández-KranzDRodríguez-PlanasN (2011) The part-time pay penalty in a segmented labor market. Labour Economics18: 591–606.
25.
FrankKHouF (2016) Beyond culture: source country female labour force participation and the earnings of immigrant women. Work, Employment and Society30(3): 410–435.
26.
GashV (2008) Preference or constraint? Part-time workers’ transitions in Denmark, France and the United Kingdom. Work, Employment and Society22(4): 655–674.
27.
GolschK (2003) Employment flexibility in Spain and its impact on transitions to adulthood. Work, Employment and Society17(4): 691–718.
28.
González-EnríquezC (2009) CLANDESTINO – Undocumented migration: counting the uncountable. Data and trends across Europe. European Commission: Country Report Spain, January2009.
29.
GrimshawDRuberyJ (2001) The Gender Pay Gap: A Research Review. Manchester: Equal Opportunities Commission.
30.
HakimC (1997) A sociological perspective on part-time work. In: BlossfeldHPHakimC (eds) Between Equalization and Marginalization: Women Working Part-Time in Europe and the United States of America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 22–70.
31.
HellevikO (2009) Linear versus logistic regression when the dependent variable is a dichotomy. Quality & Quantity43(1): 59–74.
KallebergA (2000) Nonstandard employment relations: part-time, temporary and contract work. Annual Review of Sociology26: 341–365.
34.
KavliHCNielsenR (2019) Stepping in, stepping out or staying put? Part-time work and immigrant integration in Norway. In: NicolaisenHKavliCJensenR (eds) Dualisation of Part-Time Work: The Development of Labour Market Insiders and Outsiders. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 159–186.
35.
KelleNSimonsonJRomeu GordoL (2017) Is part-time employment after childbirth a stepping-stone into full-time work? A cohort study for East and West Germany. Feminist Economics23(4): 201–224.
36.
KhoudjaYPlattL (2018) Labour market entries and exits of women from different origin countries in the UK. Social Science Research69: 1–18.
37.
KofmanERaghuramP (2006) Gender and global labour migrations: Incorporating skilled workers. Antipode38(2): 282–303.
38.
KranzD (2018) La brecha de género en España y el contrato de reducción de jornada por cuidado de menores. Cuadernos de Información Económica264: 45–60.
39.
KyyräTArranzJGarcía-SerranoC (2017) Does part-time work help unemployed workers to find full-time work? Evidence from Spain. IZA Discussion Paper, No. 10770. Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
40.
LangCSchömannIClauwaertS (2013) Atypical forms of employment contracts in times of crisis. Etui working paper 2013.03. Brussels: ETUI.
41.
LyonetteC (2015) Part-time work, work-life balance and gender equality. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law37(3): 321–333.
42.
McBrideAHebsonGHolgateJ (2015) Intersectionality: are we taking enough notice in the field of work and employment relations?Work, Employment and Society29(2): 331–341.
43.
McDonaldPBradleyLBrownK (2009) Full-time is a given here: part-time versus full-time job quality. British Journal of Management20(2): 143–157.
44.
McDowellL (2014) Gender, work, employment and society: feminist reflections on continuity and change. Work, Employment and Society28(5): 825–837.
45.
ManningAPetrongoloB (2008) The part-time pay penalty for women in Britain. The Economic Journal118: F28–F51.
46.
MånssonJOttossonJ (2011) Transitions from part-time unemployment: is part-time work a dead end or a stepping stone to the labour market?Economic and Industrial Democracy32(4): 569–589.
47.
Mooi-ReciIMuñoz-CometJ (2016) The Great Recession and the immigrant-native gap in job loss in the Spanish labour market. European Sociological Review32(6): 730–751.
48.
Muñoz-CometJ (2016) Potential work experience as protection against unemployment: does it bring equal benefit to immigrants and native workers?European Sociological Review32(5): 537–551.
49.
National Institute of Statistics (2019) Available at: www.ine.es.
50.
NättiJ (1995) Part-time work in the Nordic countries: a trap for women?Labour9(2): 343–357.
51.
OECD (2016) OECD Employment Outlook 2016. Paris: OECD Publishing.
52.
OECD (2018) International Migration Outlook 2018. Paris: OECD Publishing.
53.
O’ReillyJBothfeldS (2002) What happens after working part-time?Cambridge Journal of Economics26(4): 409–439.
54.
O’ReillyJFaganC (eds) (1998) Part-Time Prospects: An International Comparison of Part-Time Work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim. London: Routledge.
55.
PérezGRoyoR (1991) La voluntariedad en el trabajo a tiempo parcial. In: AAVV Transformaciones del Derecho del Trabajo. Nuevas Formas de Empleo y Concertación Social. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona.
56.
Pfau-EffingerB (2012) Women’s employment in the institutional and cultural context. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy32(9–10): 530–543.
57.
PlantengaJRemeryC (2010) Flexible Working Time Arrangements and Gender Equality: A Comparative Review of Thirty European Countries. Luxembourg: Official Publications of the European Communities.
58.
RubinJRendallMRabinovichL, et al (2008) Migrant Women in the European Labour Force. Current Situation and Future Prospects. TR-591-EC. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp.
59.
RuedaD (2014) Dualization, crisis and the welfare state. Socio-Economic Review12(2): 381–407.
60.
SilvestreJReherD (2014) The internal migration of immigrants: differences between one-time and multiple movers in Spain. Population, Space and Place20(1): 50–65.
61.
SoléCParellaS (2003) The labour market and racial discrimination in Spain. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies29(1): 121–140.
62.
SpenceM (1973) Job market signaling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics87(3): 355–374.
63.
TamM (1997) Part-Time Employment: A Bridge or a Trap?Aldershot: Avebury.
64.
WarrenTLyonetteC (2018) Good, bad and very bad part-time jobs for women? Re-examining the importance of occupational class for job quality since the ‘Great Recession’ in Britain. Work, Employment and Society32(4): 747–767.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
