Old Bookaroo
Silver Member
- Dec 4, 2008
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The ACA is not causing a shift to part time employment in this country.
What’s Behind the Increase in Part-Time Work?
Rob Valletta and Leila Bengali
August 26, 2013
Part-time work spiked during the recent recession and has stayed stubbornly high, raising concerns that elevated part-time employment represents a “new normal” in the labor market. However, recent movements and current levels of part-time work are largely within historical norms, despite increases for selected demographic groups, such as prime-age workers with a high-school degree or less. In that respect, the continued high incidence of part-time work likely reflects a slow labor market recovery and does not portend permanent changes in the proportion of part-time jobs.
Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco | What?s Behind the Increase in Part-Time Work?
Back in July, Mort Zuckerman, the Chairman of U.S. News and World Reports created quite a stir with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Citing Labor Department data showing that three-quarters of the 753,000 jobs created in the first half of this year were part-time, he argued that the introduction of Obamacare was forcing employers to swap full-timers for part-timers. People working fewer than 30 hours per week do not have to be offered health insurance.
Mr. Zuckerman’s numbers seemed compelling, and they have not been revised. But they have been superseded, and the picture looks very different today, thanks to just three more months of data. The numbers now show that part time employment fell in the first nine months of this year by 97,000, while full-time employment rose by 998,000. That’s quite a turnaround, and it pulls the rug from under the feet of Mr. Zuckerman and other commentators and politicians arguing that the labor market has been hugely distorted by Obamacare.
Is Obamacare Really Driving People Into Part-Time Jobs? Sorry, Mort Zuckerman, But There's No Way To Tell Based On The Data - Forbes
September 27, 2013
Is Health Care Reform Creating More Part-Time Work?
By PHILIP M. BOFFEY
Republican critics of the Affordable Care Act often argue that the reform law has caused a big uptick in the number of part-time workers. The A.C.A. requires companies with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance to those working 30 hours or more a week, or pay a penalty. The theory spun by Republicans is that employers are maneuvering to escape that penalty by reducing the hours of most workers to below the 30 hour threshold. The critics say that’s why many job-seekers can’t find full-time work and many job holders are finding their hours reduced. As Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said on the floor of the Senate recently, “Obamacare is a big reason we’re turning into a nation of part-time workers.”But neither the facts nor logic support that claim. The recession, not the A.C.A., caused the increase in part-time work, which — besides — largely occurred before the reform law was enacted.
Two researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published an analysis in late August [please see above] that largely absolved the reform law as a cause of part-time work. They showed that part-time work as a share of total employment climbed to 20.3 percent in 1983 in the aftermath of a recession during the Reagan administration, fell to 17 percent during the boom years of the 1990s, and zoomed back up after the severe recession in 2008 and 2009 to reach 19.7 percent in 2010, the year the A.C.A. was enacted. Since then it has trended down very slightly but remains stubbornly high.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/is-health-care-reform-creating-more-part-time-work/?_r=0
By Michael Hiltzik
October 22, 2013
Tuesday's tepid brew of jobs data, delayed more than two weeks by the government shutdown, wasn't worth waiting for. It shows an increase in total nonfarm employment by 148,000 in September over August, which is consistent with economic growth crawling along in second gear.
The report's most notable nugget is the change in part-time work. Over the last month the number of workers in part-time jobs for economic reasons--slack demand, cutbacks in hours--has remained stable. Over the last year, however, it has fallen by 681,000. Those part-timers also constitute a smaller share of all workers--5.5% in September compared to 6% a year earlier.
That puts the lie to the popular conservative meme that Obamacare has transformed America's workforce into part-timers. The idea is that employers wishing to evade the law's requirement that they offer health insurance to employees working more than 30 hours a week will cut their hours to 29 or less. The shorthand about this provided by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), that one-stop shop for Obamacare disinformation, was "single parents who have been forced into part-time work."
Previous employment reports have shown no evidence for that, and the new report undermines the myth further. Moreover, the monthly report defines "part-time" more loosely than the Affordable Care Act -- 35 hours a week or less, compared to the ACA's 30 hours--which means there's even less evidence for the Obamacare/part-time meme.
Obamacare and part-time jobs: The myth exploded (again) - latimes.com
Obamacare Hasn’t Put Americans Out of Work
New federal jobs report doesn't support claim that the Affordable Care Act will decrease full-time employment
Read more: Jobs Report Shows No Obamacare Effect on Employment | TIME.com Jobs Report Shows No Obamacare Effect on Employment | TIME.com
Health Reform Not Causing Significant Shift to Part-Time Work; But Raising Threshold to 40 Hours a Week Would Make a Sizeable Shift Likely
By Paul N. Van de Water
Updated October 12, 2013
Congressional Republicans are reportedly considering whether to add — to legislation to reopen the government and raise the debt limit — a measure to raise the threshold for full-time work under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from 30 to 40 hours. That’s because the ACA requires employers with at least 50 full-time-equivalent workers to offer health coverage to full-time employees or pay a penalty, and critics claim the requirement creates a disincentive to hire full-timers, prompting a shift to part-time work that’s already evident in the data.[1]
Recent data, however, provide scant evidence that health reform is causing a significant shift toward part-time work, and there’s every reason to believe that the ultimate effect will be small as a share of total employment.
Health Reform Not Causing Significant Shift to Part-Time Work ? Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Good luck to all,
~ The Old Bookaroo
What’s Behind the Increase in Part-Time Work?
Rob Valletta and Leila Bengali
August 26, 2013
Part-time work spiked during the recent recession and has stayed stubbornly high, raising concerns that elevated part-time employment represents a “new normal” in the labor market. However, recent movements and current levels of part-time work are largely within historical norms, despite increases for selected demographic groups, such as prime-age workers with a high-school degree or less. In that respect, the continued high incidence of part-time work likely reflects a slow labor market recovery and does not portend permanent changes in the proportion of part-time jobs.
Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco | What?s Behind the Increase in Part-Time Work?
Back in July, Mort Zuckerman, the Chairman of U.S. News and World Reports created quite a stir with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Citing Labor Department data showing that three-quarters of the 753,000 jobs created in the first half of this year were part-time, he argued that the introduction of Obamacare was forcing employers to swap full-timers for part-timers. People working fewer than 30 hours per week do not have to be offered health insurance.
Mr. Zuckerman’s numbers seemed compelling, and they have not been revised. But they have been superseded, and the picture looks very different today, thanks to just three more months of data. The numbers now show that part time employment fell in the first nine months of this year by 97,000, while full-time employment rose by 998,000. That’s quite a turnaround, and it pulls the rug from under the feet of Mr. Zuckerman and other commentators and politicians arguing that the labor market has been hugely distorted by Obamacare.
Is Obamacare Really Driving People Into Part-Time Jobs? Sorry, Mort Zuckerman, But There's No Way To Tell Based On The Data - Forbes
September 27, 2013
Is Health Care Reform Creating More Part-Time Work?
By PHILIP M. BOFFEY
Republican critics of the Affordable Care Act often argue that the reform law has caused a big uptick in the number of part-time workers. The A.C.A. requires companies with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance to those working 30 hours or more a week, or pay a penalty. The theory spun by Republicans is that employers are maneuvering to escape that penalty by reducing the hours of most workers to below the 30 hour threshold. The critics say that’s why many job-seekers can’t find full-time work and many job holders are finding their hours reduced. As Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said on the floor of the Senate recently, “Obamacare is a big reason we’re turning into a nation of part-time workers.”But neither the facts nor logic support that claim. The recession, not the A.C.A., caused the increase in part-time work, which — besides — largely occurred before the reform law was enacted.
Two researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published an analysis in late August [please see above] that largely absolved the reform law as a cause of part-time work. They showed that part-time work as a share of total employment climbed to 20.3 percent in 1983 in the aftermath of a recession during the Reagan administration, fell to 17 percent during the boom years of the 1990s, and zoomed back up after the severe recession in 2008 and 2009 to reach 19.7 percent in 2010, the year the A.C.A. was enacted. Since then it has trended down very slightly but remains stubbornly high.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/is-health-care-reform-creating-more-part-time-work/?_r=0
October 22, 2013
Tuesday's tepid brew of jobs data, delayed more than two weeks by the government shutdown, wasn't worth waiting for. It shows an increase in total nonfarm employment by 148,000 in September over August, which is consistent with economic growth crawling along in second gear.
The report's most notable nugget is the change in part-time work. Over the last month the number of workers in part-time jobs for economic reasons--slack demand, cutbacks in hours--has remained stable. Over the last year, however, it has fallen by 681,000. Those part-timers also constitute a smaller share of all workers--5.5% in September compared to 6% a year earlier.
That puts the lie to the popular conservative meme that Obamacare has transformed America's workforce into part-timers. The idea is that employers wishing to evade the law's requirement that they offer health insurance to employees working more than 30 hours a week will cut their hours to 29 or less. The shorthand about this provided by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), that one-stop shop for Obamacare disinformation, was "single parents who have been forced into part-time work."
Previous employment reports have shown no evidence for that, and the new report undermines the myth further. Moreover, the monthly report defines "part-time" more loosely than the Affordable Care Act -- 35 hours a week or less, compared to the ACA's 30 hours--which means there's even less evidence for the Obamacare/part-time meme.
Obamacare and part-time jobs: The myth exploded (again) - latimes.com
Obamacare Hasn’t Put Americans Out of Work
New federal jobs report doesn't support claim that the Affordable Care Act will decrease full-time employment
Read more: Jobs Report Shows No Obamacare Effect on Employment | TIME.com Jobs Report Shows No Obamacare Effect on Employment | TIME.com
Health Reform Not Causing Significant Shift to Part-Time Work; But Raising Threshold to 40 Hours a Week Would Make a Sizeable Shift Likely
By Paul N. Van de Water
Updated October 12, 2013
Congressional Republicans are reportedly considering whether to add — to legislation to reopen the government and raise the debt limit — a measure to raise the threshold for full-time work under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from 30 to 40 hours. That’s because the ACA requires employers with at least 50 full-time-equivalent workers to offer health coverage to full-time employees or pay a penalty, and critics claim the requirement creates a disincentive to hire full-timers, prompting a shift to part-time work that’s already evident in the data.[1]
Recent data, however, provide scant evidence that health reform is causing a significant shift toward part-time work, and there’s every reason to believe that the ultimate effect will be small as a share of total employment.
Health Reform Not Causing Significant Shift to Part-Time Work ? Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Good luck to all,
~ The Old Bookaroo
