ABSTRACT
Employment histories-including periods of part-time, full-time and nonemployment-are influenced by both the gender culture surrounding domestic labour and the gendered institutional framework (Pfau-Effinger, Chapter 9, this volume). Thus both agency and social structure contribute to explaining levels of part-time work. This chapter assesses the effect of part-time work on pensions, something women generally do not consider when making employment decisions (Carr 1993), but which is profoundly influenced by two major social institutions: the welfare state and the labour market. Where these institutions privilege the employment pattern associated with middle-class males-full-time continuous employment for most of the working life-those with part-time or interrupted employment are disadvantaged in pension acquisition.
