As more women are moving into professional and managerial positions, and as the typical workweek has lengthened, the definition of part-time worker has changed, according to labor experts. Now part-timers are working what used to be considered full-time hours -- 35 to 40 hours a week.

• The average workweek for a professional or manager has stretched in the last 20 years to almost 48 hours from 45, according to a 1997 study by the Families and Work Institute.

• Roughly one-third of salaried part-time employees surveyed in a 1997 National Study of the Changing Work Force said they spent at least 35 hours on the job.

• Women now make up 68 percent of the traditional part-time work force and 41 percent of the full-time work force.

• In past decades, employees who requested part-time hours were usually paid less and did not receive benefits -- but that has changed.

Employers are reportedly more willing to be flexible and not demand such adjustments.

Source: Reed Abelson, "Part-Time Work for Some Adds Up to Full-Time Job," New York Times, November 2, 1998.