Part-Time Work, Gender and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from a Developing Country

Abstract:     
This paper investigates the relationship between part-time work and job satisfaction using a recent household survey from Honduras. In contrast to previous work for developed countries, this paper does not find a preference for part-time work among women. Instead, both women and men tend to prefer full- time work, although the preference for working longer hours is stronger for men. Consistent with an interpretation of working part-time as luxury consumption, the paper finds that partnered women with children, poor women or women working in the informal sector are more likely to prefer full-time work than single women, partnered women without children, non-poor women or women working in the formal sector. These results have important implications for the design of family and child care policies in low-income countries.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 37

Keywords: job satisfaction, gender, part-time work, job flexibility

JEL Classification: C13, J16, J28

working papers series