51The two remaining types relate to part-time employment. Lower part-
time trajectories account for 5.1%. Individuals belonging to this type
tend to make later transitions into the labour market, due to their involve-
ment with education. In most cases, part time working was preceded by
full-time employment. Higher part-time trajectories amount to 2.5% of
the total sample. In this case, transitions from school to work occurred at
earlier ages. Even though these individuals spent most of their adult life
in high part-time occupations, roughly one out of four transitioned to
full-time employment in their thirties.
There are very clear-cut differences in the distribution of occupational
trajectories across countries (Table 2.4). Early full-time trajectories are
clearly predominant both in Portugal (62.7%) and in Lithuania (58.5%).
On the other hand, they only amount to one out of ten in Switzerland.
The Swiss are much more likely to follow Late full-time occupational tra-
jectories (56.2%). Conversely, Late full-time is much less common in
Portugal (19.0%) and in Lithuania (15.7%). Looking now at the least
common trajectory types, Erratic (13.2%) and Lower part-time (11.8%)
are more commonly found in Switzerland than in the other countries.
On the other hand, At home trajectories are more common in Portugal
(11.9%) and in Lithuania (12.4%) than in Switzerland (8.1%). In con-
trast, Lower part-time trajectories are quite exceptional in both Portugal
(2.8%) and Lithuania (2.1%).
Even though overall country comparisons of male and female trajecto-
ries do not yield statistically significant differences, in all countries men
are more likely to follow Late full-time trajectories, while women are
more likely to follow Early full-time trajectories. These differences are
likely to be associated with calendars of family transitions.
As far as differences between the cohorts are concerned, only the Lithuanian
case shows significant change, with Early full-time trajectories increasing
from 59.4% in the 1950–1955 cohort to 66.0% in the 1970–1975 cohort.
Lower part-time trajectories also increased slightly (from 1.0% to 3.2%).
Conversely, there is a decrease in the proportion of Lithuanians in the
1970–1975 cohort who follow Higher part-time, At home, and Late full-
time occupational trajectories. In the Portuguese case, it is worth mentioning
that a longer time frame would reveal that most individuals born 1950–1955
were already working at 13 years of age (Ramos 2015 ).
Contextualising Personal Networks Across Birth Cohorts...