So close, so far? : part-time employment and its effects on gender equality in Italy and Spain

This chapter analyses the cleavages among the insiders and outsiders of different groups of women in Italy and Spain with a particular focus on part-time employment. Given the prevalence of dualisation in Southern European labour markets, people employed in part-time work and non- standard employment are particularly vulnerable to precarious conditions. Only a minority of part- time contracts are voluntarily entered into by women. The authors argue that, in comparison with other European countries, part-time employment in Italy and Spain appears to be a form of implementing external labour market flexibility rather than an instrument created to ease work/family conflicts for women. Using an intersectional analytical approach, the authors show how the distribution of non-standard and involuntary part-time work is unequal among different groups of women, exposing young (in Italy) and low educated (in Spain) women in particular to deteriorated labour market conditions. The situation of disadvantage is magnified when there is a particular combination of lack of education, age and childcare requirements