The Effects of Working Time, Segmentation and Labour Market Mobility on Wages and Pensions in Ireland

The widespread increase in part-time working in most OECD countries over recent years has been accompanied by concerns about the quality of part-time jobs. Most existing research on differences in pay and benefits between full- and part-time work tends to focus on the characteristics of part-time workers and the nature of part-time jobs. However, part-time jobs are more open than full-time employment to the unemployed and other labour market outsiders, and such labour market mobility can also influence wages. This paper analyses the effects of working-time, gender, labour market segmentation and mobility, on wages and occupational pension benefits in Ireland in 1994. We show that both labour market segmentation and mobility directly influence wages and that controlling for both sets of factors in a wage model eliminates the negative effect of part-time working. We also show that the wage effects of labour market mobility differ by gender and labour market segment. Pension entitlements are strongly influenced by gender, working time, labour markets segment and labour market mobility.