Different view: Most new jobs are full-time, but that doesn’t mean they’re good jobs

From Marketwatch.com:

...since the recession ended four years ago, the vast majority of new jobs have been full time: Full-time jobs have increased by 3.3 million, while part-time jobs are up by 564,000 (including 360,000 in June). The percentage of workers who are part-timers has declined from a peak of 20% to 19.5%.

That’s still way too high, considering that about 8 million part-timers would like to work full time. But the problem isn’t getting any worse. Contrary to what you hear from Durden et al, the economy is slowly becoming less of a part-time ghetto.

When we suggest that all part-time jobs are bad, we forget that the vast majority of part-timers want to work part-time. They prefer it.

Who are the part-timers? As of the end of 2012, there were 27.6 million part-time workers. Of that total, 30% were between the ages of 16 and 24, and another 25% were over 55. These are people who are easing into or easing out of full-time work. Most of the growth in part-time work since 2009 has been among people over 65.

 What about people in their prime working years of 25 to 54? They account for about 65% of the labor force, but just 45% of part-time workers. Of the 12.4 million part-timers aged 25 to 54, 8.8 million were women and 3.6 million were men.

In other words, part-timers are largely students, housewives and retirees.

Hidden in the sky-is-falling rhetoric of Zuckerman, Ferrara and Durden is a real concern that must be addressed: The economy is not nearly creating enough good jobs that take advantage of all the skills our workers have. Anyone willing to work should be able to find a job, and should be adequately compensated for the work they do, including health-care benefits, overtime pay, a pension, and paid time off.

The chicken littles may have their facts wrong, but they have their finger on a real problem. The quality of jobs matters a lot, and the quality of jobs has been deteriorating for a while.

It’s not only part-time jobs that are terrible. Many full-time jobs also count as bad jobs: Low pay, dangerous or boring working condition, inadequate benefits, with no job security.

So by all means, let’s talk about how pathetic this recovery has been. But let’s not confuse things by complaining that we have too many part-time jobs. We have too few good jobs.
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Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-part-time-jobs-arent-only-ones-being-created-2013-07-19