More Utah women want part-time jobs, but not the lower-paying ones
Dec 7, 2023, 7:00 AM
Utah women want jobs, specifically part-time jobs. But they want more professional, high paying ones.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new report from the Utah Women in Leadership Project at Utah State University shows we are above the national average for women employed with part-time jobs. But respondents are interested in a different type of part-time job.
“They want to work in professional roles part-time,” said Susan Madsen, founding director of the Utah Women in Leadership Project. “Not working, necessarily, in lower paying jobs-which has been the history of women’s part-time work.”
Some employers are starting to take notice and offering more benefits to part-time workers. They are also starting to catch up to most other states by offering more flexibility for women in the workplace by allowing them to take care of family and other needs. Right now, employment for women is at an all-time high across the board.
“In the past few years we’re kind of catching up with the nation with companies saying, ‘Wow, we have to have women in the workplace. We have to support them’,” said Madsen.
One of the biggest hurdles for women in the workforce is childcare. Utah women have an especially difficult task trying to find it, and hold jobs.
“Utah is looked at as one of the ‘childcare deserts’ in the United States,” said Madsen. “And it really is a market failure. It’s so expensive for families to afford. Yet, the people who offer it; many of them live in poverty. They don’t make enough.”
Additionally, Utah was just named the worst state for the gender wage gap.
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