IS THERE A WAGE GAP
BETWEEN PART-TIME
AND FULL-TIME WORKERS?

November 2000 — Despite claims by some labor unions and policy makers that part-time workers are paid proportionately less than their full-time counterparts, Trinity University labor economist Barry Hirsch has concluded that such a wage gap is quite small if it exists at all. Professor Hirsch, the E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics, analyzed data from the U.S. Labor Department and Census Bureau to determine the real difference in wages for nearly 1 million male and female workers from 1989-98. Unadjusted figures show the gap for part-time workers during those nine years to be about 26 percent for women and 46 percent for men, but he says those statistics fail to account for variations in skill levels, education, and experience. “Once those aspects are factored out, the apparent wage gap closes so greatly that it statistically ceases,” Professor Hirsch says. His research does show a substantial gender wage gap, largely because male-dominated occupations tend to require more training and continuous work experience. Moreover, roughly two-thirds of part-time workers are female, he says, noting another key finding of his study – the fact that part-time work is most often (80 percent of the time) a voluntary arrangement. For more details about Professor Hirsch’s study, contact Susie P. Gonzalez at (210) 999-8406 or email: Susie.Gonzalez@trinity.edu.

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Last updated on November 6, 2000 by the Office of Public Relations