More than half a million stranded in part-time jobs

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION STRANDED IN PART-TIME JOBS

MEDIA RELEASE: Anthony Albanese – 17 April 2003

Almost 600,000 Australians trapped in part-time jobs want to work more hours, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.

In its report Underemployed Workers, Australia the Bureau found 589,800 (22 per cent) of all part-time workers are unhappy with the amount of work they have and want more hours. Almost half of these workers (43 per cent) want to add between 10 and 19 hours to their working week.

These figures confirmed the extent of the Howard Government’s policy failure when it comes to job creation.

Last month almost 65,000 full-time jobs were lost and Australia now has among the highest rates of part-time work in the world.

Since the Howard Government came to office two-thirds of all jobs created have been part-time, and these latest figures confirm hundreds of thousands of Australians are being trapped in low-paid part-time jobs instead of being given the opportunity to work more hours.

According to the report 55 per cent of those working 10 hours or less a week wanted to add up to 19 hours to their working week and more than 100,000 part-time workers wanted an extra 20 to 29 hours a week.

People want to work, and they are willing to work hard, but the Howard Government has been a dismal failure in turning economic growth into decent jobs.

The only jobs it seems to be able to find are cushy $250,000 a year postings for old mates like Peter Reith.