Dual Tracks: Part-time Work in Life-Cycle Employment for British Women.

Almost half the women in work in the UK work part-time, but views conflict: does this support a woman's career or is it a dead-end trap? Cohort data on labour market involvement to age 42 show highly varied pathways through full/part-time/non-employment. Econometric estimation confirms that individual characteristics matter, but labour market history is particularly powerful. Part-time work serves two different functions. A history of full-time work even including spells in part-time or non-employment, tends to lead back to full-time work, so supporting a career. Part-time work combined with non-employment is unlikely to lead to full-time work, and is a trap