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

31 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2011

See all articles by Florencia López Bóo

Florencia López Bóo

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Young Lives, Department of International Development, University of Oxford; IZA

Lucia Madrigal

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Carmen Pages

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 2009

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 fulltime 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.

Suggested Citation

López Bóo, Florencia and Madrigal, Lucia and Pages-Serra, Carmen, Part-Time Work, Gender and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from a Developing Country (January 2009). IDB Working Paper No. 555, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1821906 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1821906

Florencia López Bóo (Contact Author)

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Young Lives, Department of International Development, University of Oxford ( email )

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Lucia Madrigal

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Carmen Pages-Serra

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