It is widely assumed that non-standard employment arrangements, and especially casual
employment, involve employment conditions that are inferior to more traditional employment
arrangements. This paper uses data from the first wave of the Household, Income and Labour
Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to examine this issue. Specifically, data on job
satisfaction are used to proxy job quality. These data suggest that workers do not necessarily
see non-standard employment as undesirable. First, workers on fixed-term contracts are
found to be much more satisfied with their jobs than other workers. Second, the lower levels
of job satisfaction among casual employees are restricted to those working full-time, and
even then the size of the effect is only marked among men.