The part-time poverty gap across Europe: How institutions affect the way part-time and full-time workers avoid poverty differently

Drawing on EU-SILC 2012 data, this paper investigates the variation in the degree to which part-time and full-time workers avoid poverty differently by various income components in Europe. We look at three consecutive steps in the income package: individual earnings, market incomes of other household members, and government transfers. The results indicate that on average across Europe full-timers are more likely than part-timers to escape poverty with each step. On the other hand, much variation across countries is discovered. More stringent wage institutions, short working hour cultures and a strong support for working mothers are related with lower differences in earnings poverty between part-time and full-time workers. These institutional characteristics also reduce the difference in the degree to which part-time and full-time workers avoid poverty by other market incomes in the household. The difference in poverty reduction by government transfers between part-timers and full-timers was found to vary little across countries, but the degree to which part-time earnings are combined with benefits tends to be related to a larger difference pre-distribution poverty.