Writing Feedback / The proportion of part-time employees in four countries [2]

The bar chart shows changes in the proportion of part-time employees in four countries of the UK between 1980 and 2010.

Overall, while England, Scotland and Wales experienced an increase in the rate of people who worked part-time, the opposite was true for Northern Ireland. Wales was the country where the percentage of part-time workers was highest in both eras.

In 1980, around 32% of employees in Wales worked part-time, which was about 8% higher than the figure for England. After 30 years, the former rose by about 3 percent, while the latter saw a greater increase of 6 percent. However, the overall percentage of workers in 2010 still appears to be higher in Wales.

The rate of people who worked as part-time employees in Northern Ireland in 1980 was around one quarter, but this figure declined by 2% in 2010. Of the four countries, the proportion of people working part-time was lowest in Scotland in 1980, at about 10%. This figure nearly doubled in 2010, making Ireland rank third in terms of part-time employment rate compared to other UK countries.