What Accounts for the Growth in Part-Time Employment in Recent Years?

In recent years, the structure of employment has altered enormously. One of the largest factors of this change is the growth of part-time employment.
The definition of part-time depends a great deal to its use. The office of national statistics defines the part-time "an employee expected to work no more than 30 hours , excluding all over time and main meal breaks , in a normal week; but exceptionally, an employee without specified normal basic hours, who is described as part-time by employer." The lab our force survey, uses a self-definition method, which gives a similar result of around 30 hours per week. (IRS employment trends 725)
Most businesses like the ones surveyed in IRS employment trends define part-time employment as those who work less than standard full-time hours for there occupation.
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