Less can be more attractive

By VIKKI BLAND

A queen of cuisine, 40-something Julie Ferguson works part-time at Auckland's Kauri Gum Country Store and Cafe and dreams of being a professional caterer.

So what's stopping her? Ferguson, a mother of three, says she is locked into part-time work to help support her family, and can't afford a student loan.

"By the time my children leave school I will be nearly 50. It will take three years to retrain and who wants to employ a 53-year-old? Launching my own business is my only option."

Ferguson says while she has chosen to work part-time for her children's sake, after paying tax, ACC levies and transport she only gets "grocery money" from her wages. But she says even that makes it worthwhile.

"While the tax rate penalises part-timers for even making the effort, you cannot raise three children on one income in Auckland and have them participate in sports and other interests."

Ferguson is not alone in enjoying the flexibility part-time work affords while wishing it paid more. Although part-time work is available in professional sectors through job sharing, maternity leave, freelancing or contracting, the glut of part-time work opportunities in New Zealand tend to occur in poorer paying industries including manufacturing, administration, retail and hospitality.

And many lower paid part-time positions are staffed by women. According to the 2001 Census, there were 2 1/2 times as many women working part-time in New Zealand as men, despite the fact only 60.1 per cent of New Zealand women were in the labour force compared with 73.8 per cent of men. Of the female part-time work force in 2001, a fifth (21 per cent) had no formal school qualifications while 18 per cent had School Certificate. Only 9 per cent had a Bachelors degree or higher.

Trudy Warin, mother of three and part-time general practitioner at Auckland's Browns Bay Medical Centre, is in that 9 per cent. She says working part-time helps her to be a better mother and doctor.

"Fulltime GP's commonly work 70 or 80 hours a week. I work 30, and I'm more focused, less tired and more empathetic." Warin too will be in her 50s by the time her children leave school, and she says keeping her career and income protected through part-time work is important.

"Working part-time as a GP pays well, although that wasn't the case when I was only doing half-days. Then, work barely paid after preschool and [professional medical fees] were deducted."

Interestingly, the number of part-time workers in New Zealand is gradually falling (numbers fell 1.4 per cent in the first quarter of this year) as more people move to fulltime employment.

This is good news for the section of the population the Government calls "underemployed" - those who work part-time but want more hours. But for others, permanent part-time work remains preferable, and not only for the career maintainers and cash-strapped mums.

Part-time work is also meeting the income needs of young New Zealanders with long-term employment goals and the lifestyle needs of the overworked and financially secure.

Joanna Hill, communications manager for McDonald's, says the fast food giant employs 6500 crew through its franchisee operations, mostly permanent part-timers and most under the age of 20.

"Only managers and head office staff fall into the fulltime category," she says.

Hill says slightly more than half McDonald's part-timers are women, bucking the national trend for women to outnumber men in part-time work by more than two to one. She says McDonald's part-time staff tend to be students who work through their secondary school years and stay on to fund a tertiary education.

"McDonald's appeals to young people because it offers flexible hours and on the job training. It's especially attractive to people interested in a career in the hospitality industry. Part-time employees are also not casual employees; they get sick pay, annual leave and training," says Hill.

People may also choose a lesser paying part-time job over a fulltime career for lifestyle reasons. Hill knows of a teacher who quit a fulltime teaching position for a part-time job in office administration.

"The after-hours paperwork and bureaucracy of teaching just got too much; although part-time work pays less, you can usually leave it behind you when you go home," she says.