Paradoxical Patterns of Part-Time Employment in Denmark?

Abstract

Part-time employment in Denmark has undergone some interesting longitudinal changes, which differ considerably from the experiences of other countries. As such, an analysis of part-time employment in Denmark may cast new light on the usual explanations of part-time employment and their underlying premises. The article focuses on the level and composition of part-time employment to present key areas of disagreement with the traditional understanding of part-time work. The article shows that the traditional gender and age distribution has become less pronounced as have the negative implications often associated with part-time employment. In Denmark, part-time employment has increasingly become a `youth phenomenon', the distinctive gender patterns could disappear totally in the near future, and the often portrayed employer strategies of using part-timers as `cheap labour' has less currency in a tight labour market with a growing focus on committed service and `knowledge' workers.