All respondents received this question. In Germany, six respondents had no other paid job, and ten did. Of those ten, four had a regular additional paid job, and six an occasional one. In Poland, the sample showed the reverse pattern, with six respondents in multi-activity and ten with only one job.
Four respondents, who during recruitment identified as employed (DE06, DE07, DE11) or self-employed (DE10) only, answered that they have an occasional other paid job in Q27. This demonstrates the necessity to distinguish between regular and occasional additional jobs. Other paid jobs that are occasional are not mentioned in a less elaborate recruitment process, but are then mentioned in an in-depth survey interview, whereas regular multi-activity is easily detected. This is also mirrored in the probing answers already at questions 5 and 7, where respondent with a regular additional job are very likely to already mention it.
Respondents all give solid and spontaneous explanations for their answer category selection. None of the respondents asked for clarification of the terms regular or spontaneous. They show a homogeneous understanding of the terms, though it is mainly defined by regularity and steadiness, and not frequency or number of hours per week as in the interviewer instructions.
Respondents who answer that they have another regular other paid job refer to daily or weekly jobs that contribute a substantive amount to the income:
“Yes, every Monday as a currier driver via bicycle” (DE14)“Yes, self-employed 20 hours a week” (DE05)“It is regular and with regular benefits” (PL10)
An additional job is considered regular when it has a fixed time slot next to the main paid job, is carried out or contracted reliably, and considered a job in its own right by the respondent.
“For me, regular means that I know when I’m supposed to work” (DE15)“Apart from my main job, I have a job with a lower number of hours and I know the conditions I work there” (PL11)“Apart from my main job, I have a job with a lower number of hours and I know the conditions I work there” (PL11)“Frequency and duration is not basic for me. To call something regular, I need to be able to plan it in time”(PL15)
Opinions diverge on the required frequency of a regular job:
One respondent defines a regular job as one that is not seasonal (PL01).
The term “occasional” requires more reflection on behalf of respondents, both in distinction from “regular” paid job, and also whether it is worth mentioning at all. Whether a job is regular or occa-sional doesn’t solely depend on the number of hours a respondent works in the additional job(s). However, with one exception (DE01), for the German respondents, occasional jobs take up at most 1½ hours per week. Occasional jobs are ones that are taken on at short notice, when they are offered by chance:
When asked to define “occasional”, respondents mainly name irregularity and not being able to predict when and how much they work:
One respondent (DE02) answers that she has an additional regular job, but comments that she actually has several, and while the question wording in German refers to one or more additional jobs, the answer categories only reflect the singular.
