Probability of Being Employed Part-Time in Retail Sales

Since 1980 the percentage of the workforce engaged in part-time employment has increased, attributed to increase in service and retail industries and changing attitudes and lifestyles of workers. The purpose of the present study was to determine characteristics associated with choosing part-time employment in retail sales occupations. The data set was the 1985 Current Population Survey, refined to limit the sample to 849 persons currently employed in retail sales occupations (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1985), 82% who worked in soft goods and 18% in hard goods. Logit regressions tested models of characteristics such as gender, race, presence of children, and potential wage rates as to significance in increasing the probability of choosing part-time employment. Gender was an important predictor of work choice, with women more likely to work part-time than men. Women were more likely to work part-time if they were white, married, had children and lived further from the central city.