”Egentligen vill du jobba heltid” : En kvalitativ undersökning av deltidsarbete inom äldreomsorgen i Vilhelmina kommun

Sammanfattning: Sweden is facing demographic challenges that entail a high need for recruitment, primarily in the healthcare and care sector. This is one of the areas where most people work part-time and where the demographic challenges are expected to be greatest. In order to increase the level of employment, a central agreement has been reached between the employee and the employing municipality. Previous research indicates that part-time work within this sector is mainly voluntary, which is an aspect that has not been noticed to any great extent. This study aims to examine how part-time working women in elderly care describe their work situation, to identify some underlying causes for choosing to work part-time, and to examine what obstacles and opportunities they see to increase their employment. The study is conducted as a qualitative study with focus groups. 2 separate focus groups were carried out with a total of 11 women aged 20 to 64 years. The results showed two main reasons that the respondents indicated as causes for their choice to work part time; the family and the profession. Based on the results of this study, part-time work appears to be a strategy for either being able to combine paid work with the unpaid work at home or as a strategy for managing the workload that the respondents describe as demanding – or a combination of the two alternatives.