Negotiating gender equality, atypical work hours and caring responsibilities

Choosing to Work Part-Time – Combinations of Motives and the Role of Preferences and Constraints

“…In many countries, part-time work among mothers is motivated by the lack of good quality, affordable childcare (Kimmel, 2006). However, this is usually not the case in Sweden (Björk, Björnberg, and Ekbrand, 2013) and was not at all mentioned in the comments provided by respondents in this study. Instead part-time work among parents seems to be motivated by a desire to spend more time with their children and for a less hectic family life.…”

“…Due to new public management strategies and raised productivity expectations in municipalities in Sweden, many workers have witnessed an increase in workload as a result of fewer staff, shorter times to perform tasks, more care recipients to attend to, and so on. This has in turn led to emotional strain as workers experience that they can no longer satisfy the needs they perceive (Björk, Björnberg and Ekbrand, 2013;Forsberg Kankkunen and Bejerot, 2017;Trydegård, 2012). Previous research has also found that among women in the Nordic countries, ill health is an important motivation for part-time work (Lanninger and Sundström, 2014).…”

“…The case studied in this article is part-time work by employees of the municipality City of Gothenburg, Sweden. In Sweden the welfare system provides affordable access to public child care and public eldercare (Björk, Björnberg and Ekbrand, 2013). It is forbidden by law to discriminate against part-time workers, and part-time workers have equal access to medical services, because these are publicly funded.…”