Health Reform Not Causing Significant Shift to Part-Time Work

Though the economy continues to add jobs at a moderate pace, some of the jobs added in recent months have been part-time, prompting critics of health reform to argue that it is the culprit. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires larger employers (those with at least 50 full-time-equivalent workers) to offer health coverage to their full-time employees or pay a penalty.  The critics claim that this requirement creates a disincentive to hire full-timers and that one can already see the shift to part-time work in the data. 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.