If you are working part time, you have plenty of company.
While the latest jobs report showed solid growth overall, with 195,000 jobs added, there was a serious 322,000 increase, to 8.2 million, in the number of people working part time for economic reasons. An additional 19 million are working part time for other reasons.
(Read more: Job Growth Posts Large Gain in June; Rate Holds)
The high number of part-time workers is becoming a political football, with critics of the Affordable Care Act citing the law as the cause.
(Read more: More part-time jobs ahead under Obamacare: Critics)
Others say the rise in part-time work began in the recession.
Politics aside, if you are one of the millions of part-time workers, you have special financial needs. For starters, most part-time work does not provide benefits, and that makes health coverage difficult.
(Read more: Young, low-wage workers face health-care challenge)
That is likely to change in 2014, when the ACA will require workers who are not offered health insurance at work to obtain it elsewhere, or pay a fine. The carrot accompanying that stick is that the government will subsidize premiums for workers earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level—a large portion of the part-time workforce. By some calculations, that almost makes working part time a better deal.
Don't Just Think of Retirement, Do Something
Another issue is retirement savings. Though pensions are increasingly rare, many employers offer full-time employees a 401(k) plan, something that may not be available to part-timers.