Affordable Care Act Produced Little Change in Part-Time Employment, New AHRQ Study Finds

The Affordable Care Act’s coverage provisions and employer mandate produced limited evidence of an increase in part-time employment, a new AHRQ study has found. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the study did not find increases in the frequency of employees working in either of two part-time categories: 25–29 hours per week or fewer than 25 hours per week. Those findings applied to 2013, 2014 and the first half of 2015. Researchers also did not find a reduction in 2014 or 2015 in the frequency of employees working 30–34 hours, which the study said may have been expected based on the speculation that employers would seek to avoid the insurance mandate by reducing employee work hours below the 30-hour threshold. Modest increases in part-time employment were shown among workers with limited education, as well as among workers ages 60–64. The study, “Little Change Seen in Part-Time Employment As A Result of the Affordable Care Act,” and abstract appeared in the January issue of Health Affairs.