Work, more than half of part time is involuntary: who it involves and for what reasons

More than half of the 4.203 million part-time workers, 56.2 per cent to be exact, did not choose this form of contract but accepted it or suffered it out of necessity or for lack of other possibilities; they are therefore in a condition of involuntary part-time work. What is the identikit? They are predominantly women, resident in southern Italy, foreigners, people with a low educational qualification, or those with a fixed-term employment relationship, and are penalised in this way in terms of pay.

Among women, who account for about three quarters of those employed part-time, involuntary part-time work is also more widespread, involving 16.5% of employed women against 5.6% of employed men. In involuntary part-time, the prevalence of women is independent of socio-demographic, territorial, contract type or sector profile. The greatest differential concerns persons employed in unqualified professions: here involuntary part-time work involves 38.3% of women against 14.2% of men. The highest incidence is in the 15-34 age group where it involves 21% of employed women compared to 14% of those aged 55 and over.

These data are contained in the document 'From reconciliation to constraint: part-time work in Italy is not a choice. Proposals for gender equity and quality of work', which also highlights how the abuse of involuntary part-time work in Italy is confirmed by Eurostat data: against a similar growth in the use of part-time at European level over the last 20 years, which in 2022 saw Italy in a similar position to the European average (18.2 per cent the former, 18.5 per cent the latter), in our country involuntary part-time affects more than one in two workers employed with this form of contract (56.2 per cent) while the European average stops at less than a quarter (19.7 per cent).

In the distribution by type of contract, then, in Italy involuntary part-time work is at 23% in fixed-term employment, compared to 9% in permanent employment and 7% in self-employment.

"Part-time work, from being a tool for reconciling life and work, runs the risk of becoming an instrument of further precarisation, especially when it is imposed and is not a choice of the worker and in particular of the woman worker. One of the most evident signs of how we have faced the challenge of globalisation by mortifying work, particularly that of women,' comment Fabrizio Barca and Andrea Morniroli, co-coordinators of the Inequalities and Diversity Forum, who add: 'in Italy, the spread of part-time work seems more due to the needs of companies to reduce labour costs than to those of male and female workers.