Part-time work may be underpaid, unskilled and insecure and without social security benefits. It is frequently used to extend working hour of a business with a minimum increase of costs. It is frequently at the expense of full-time work and salaries.
In 1989, part-time workers comprise 25.6% of the total workforce in Norway, 24.7% in the UK, 20.2% in Australia, 17.3% in USA and 12% in Japan. The typical part-time worker is a woman between 25 and 44 years of age with children. In the UK, individuals working less than 16 hours per week, and, in Belgium, 2 hours or less a day, lose their benefits.