We introduce the ideas of “drop ceilings”, that full-time employees who switch to reduced
hours thereafter face an hours ceiling such that a return to full-time employment is difficult,
and of “trap-door floors”, that full-time employees may be denied the opportunity to reduce
their hours and instead face a choice between full-time employment and quitting the job.
These ideas derive from the potential existence of norms around the ideal worker and
motherhood. Relevant hypotheses are developed and tested using information on usual and
preferred working time from the first two waves of the Household, Income and Labour
Dynamics in Australia survey. The key findings are that women face drop ceilings
significantly more often than men; that professionals and managers confront trap-door floors
significantly more often than employees in other occupations; and that trap-door floor effects
are generally stronger than drop ceiling effects in the data.
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