ABSTRACT
A critical fact that is rarely mentioned in discussions about working women is that fewer than half work full time, year round. It appears to be a closely held secret that most women workers are part-timers. According to the very few studies of part-time workers, most women choose to work part time because they must balance family obligations, while many do so because they cannot find adequate child care, but the great majority would not choose the jobs they have. Reentry and part-time women share the bottom level of the labor market. Many reentry women are part-time workers, both by choice and by chance. But even when they are full-time workers, they have a hard time climbing toward better jobs at higher pay. Reentry and part-time workers include women who work to live and women who formerly lived to work.
