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October 2009

Part-time workers: some key differences between primary and secondary earners

H. Luke Shaefer

Data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the CPS indicate that the proportion of part-time workers who are primary earners has grown over the past three decades; part-time primary earners face numerous social welfare challenges, whereas part-time secondary earners have social welfare outcomes that compare well with those of full-time workers

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