Working Hours and Labour Market Transitions

This project is being conducted as part of a larger research program titled, The Dynamics of Economic and Social Change: An Analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey.

Its main objective is to use the HILDA Survey data to examine working hours preferences and the extent to which workers are able to achieve those preferences over time.

The first stage of the project focused on the much narrower topic of mobility between part-time and fill-time jobs. Using data from the first two waves of the HILDA Survey, evidence was found for both drop ceiling and trapdoor floor effects. That is, part-time employees often face drop ceilings such that it is difficult for them to increase their working time, while full-time employees often confront trap-door floors in the form of choices between continuing full-time or quitting the organization.

In the next stage of research we are using the first three waves of the HILDA data to initially identify patterns of preferred and actual work hours over the life course for men and women. Transitions between life course stages may include school-leaving, marriage, divorce, child arrival, child development, and aging. The patterns of preferred and actual hours can be compared to identify life course stages related to perceptions of either under- and over-work. Using the longitudinal nature of the data, we will ascertain whether changes in preferred work hours between waves 1 and 2 are predictive of actual work hours shifts between either waves 2 and 3 or waves 1 and 3. This analysis will allow us to identify where the labor market is functioning effectively to promote flexibility in working time, and where barriers may exist (e.g., according to gender, family status, location, or occupation).

One working paper has been produced to date and can be downloaded from the link below.

Working Paper No. 11/2004 Gender and Work Hours Transitions in Australia: Drop Ceilings and Trap-Door Floors, by Robert Drago, David Black and Mark Wooden PDF format (372K)

The contact for this project is Professor Mark Wooden