Part-Time Work in Europe: Where It Is Normal, Where It Is Rare

Part-time work is a permanent feature of European labour markets, but its prevalence varies so widely across countries, ages, and occupations that the EU average tells only part of the story.

How common is part-time work in the EU?

According to Eurostat's EU Labour Force Survey, 17.1% of employed people in the EU worked part-time in 2024. That figure has stayed broadly stable over the past decade - it stood at 17.8% in 2015 and has shifted little since.

The overall number conceals a persistent gender gap. In 2024, 27.8% of employed women worked part-time, down from 29.7% in 2015. Among men, the share has barely moved, fluctuating within a narrow band of 7.5% to 7.7% throughout the same period.

In 2024, part-time employment grew by 1.0%, just ahead of full-time employment growth at 0.9%.

Where part-time work is most common - and where it is rare

Country-level differences are large. Among employed women aged 25-54 with children, Eurostat records the highest shares of part-time work in Austria (70.5%), the Netherlands (66.6%), and Germany (66.1%). At the other end, Bulgaria records 1.5%, Romania 2.4%, and Croatia 3.1% for the same group.

For men with children, part-time work stays limited in most EU countries. The Netherlands records the highest share at 13.7%, followed by Germany at 8.4% and Belgium at 8.2%. Eurostat notes that in all other countries for which data are available, the share of part-time work among men with children stayed below 8%.

Countries including Cyprus, Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Romania record part-time rates below 10% for both men and women regardless of whether children are present in the household.

Children and gender shape the picture strongly

Having children has markedly different effects on men's and women's working patterns. In 2024, 31.7% of employed women aged 25-54 with children worked part-time, compared with 19.1% of employed women without children - a difference of 12.6 percentage points. For men, the relationship runs the other way: 5.1% of men with children worked part-time, versus 7.4% of men without children.

Age is also a clear factor. Among people aged 15-24 who were still in education, 61.2% of women and 49.1% of men worked part-time in 2024. Among young people of the same age who were not in education, those figures fell to 24.4% for women and 12.6% for men. For older workers aged 55-64, 32.6% of women and 8.5% of men worked part-time.

Part-time by occupation and contract type

Occupation is one of the strongest predictors of part-time work. In 2024, 46.6% of women in elementary occupations worked part-time, as did 34.0% of women in service and sales roles. At the other end, part-time work was rare in managerial occupations (5.6% overall) and plant and machine operator roles (5.7%).

Contract type is also linked to part-time rates. Among women, 37.0% of those on temporary contracts worked part-time, compared with 26.4% of those on permanent contracts. Among men, the equivalent figures were 19.9% (temporary) and 5.3% (permanent).

Why people work part-time

Eurostat asked part-time workers aged 25-64 for their main reason. The responses differ clearly by gender.

• Care of adults with disabilities or children: 29.6% of women, 8.7% of men
• No full-time job found: 17.1% of women, 25.7% of men
• Own illness or disability: 6.1% of women, 11.4% of men
• Education or training: 3.3% of women, 9.6% of men
• Other family reasons: 6.8% of women, 2.5% of men

For men, working part-time because no full-time position is available is the single most cited specific reason, at 25.7%. For women, care responsibilities come first.

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Source: Eurostat, EU Labour Force Survey, data for 2024. Part-time and full-time employment - statistics