• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.129-164
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• 2017

This article is an exploratory study on the recent growth of short-hours part-time work in Korea. The short-hours part-time work has been rapidly growing among low-educated women over sixty, particularly among bereaved or divorced women, contrary to the expectation of the government that encouraged the part-time work by means of work-family balance for working mothers or middle-aged women who experienced career interruption. The short-hours part-time jobs are concentrated in social service industry, mostly elderly care service jobs, and their working conditions are extremely poor, mostly low-wage jobs with no social insurances except for health insurance. In this study, we discuss why the short-hours part-time work has grown so fast in Korea since the mid 2000s. Using various governmental statistics, we examine the effects of the labor demand and supply situations during the time period, the legal context that is related with the exempt clause of the labor law, and the institutional context related with the government's public job creation projects for the elderly. We suggest some public policies needed to slow down the growth of the short-hours part-time jobs and to elevate their working conditions.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.23 no.3 s.75
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• pp.153-167
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• 2005

This study was conducted to help develop women's human resources and promote married women's return to workforce. Using various data, we examined the patterns of Korean women's economic activities over the lifecycle, career discontinuation and return to the workforce. We also interviewed twenty full-time housewives who wanted to return to workforce. The interview questions included reasons for seeking employment, desired working conditions, and difficulties in finding a job. Major findings are as follows: First, there were two groups with respect to reasons why they want employment One was an economic need such as earning basic living expenses and supporting the family. The other was self-realization and social participation. Second most women wanted to do unskilled labor such as housekeeping work, whereas some young or well-educated women looked for a professional job. Third, married women preferred part-time jobs, which were compatible with their family care demands. Most of them wanted a workplace located close to home. The women with child-care responsibility preferred working at home. Fourth, regarding difficulties of returning to workforce, they pointed out vocational ability problems due to their career discontinuation, social prejudice such as gender discrimination and psychological pressure in maintaining work and family at the same time. In order to promote employment of married women, it is required not only to change social prejudices but also to increase effectiveness in policy implementation. In addition, counseling for job-search and vocational ability training programs should be provide.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.103-111
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• 2024

In this study, the problem of child care gaps has arisen due to the expansion of women's entry into the workforce and the increase in working couples, and the care cliff phenomenon after children enter elementary school has been identified as one of the causes of women's career disconnection and low birth rates, and child care services have been initiated to solve care problems and balance work and family. The importance of childcare services to the safety and well-being of children has been highlighted by the restrictions on school attendance and the absence of caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has been making policy efforts to reduce the gap in child care, but problems with the effectiveness and efficiency of the child care system have arisen due to unstable target selection and delivery systems by ministries and projects in the implementation of child care services. Therefore, this study examines the child care services implemented by each ministry to reduce the blind spots of after-school care services in the community and prepare efficient operation plans for various delivery systems, and seeks directions for the development of child care services.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.66-122
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• 2019

As the Korean economy grew, employment expanded steadily, with the number of economically active people increasing and the employment-to-population rate also increasing. However, the working age population started to decline in 2017, and the employment of women and young people has been sluggish. The proportion of non-salaried workers in Korea is much higher than in other OECD countries, and is also excessive, considering Korea's income levels. In addition, the proportion of non-regular workers and the proportion of workers employed at small companies are particularly high among salaried workers. In light of these characteristics of Korean employment, the urgent problems facing the employment structure can be summarized by the deepening dual structure of the labor market, the increase in youth unemployment, sluggish female employment figures, and an excessive share of self-employment. Overall, it is seen that labor market duality is the main structural factor of the employment problems in Korea. Therefore, in order to fundamentally address this employment problem, it is necessary to concentrate policy efforts on alleviating labor market duality.

• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.109-122
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• 2019

The expansion of double-income households is increasing the social interest in child care. In particular, children's entrance into elementary school is considered to be the main cause of women's career break as well as childbirth. This study proposes an optimal location selection method for caring facilities for elementary school students. As a candidate for care facilities, we selected existing child care facilities. We proposed a dual structure evaluation method that considers locational characteristics as well as mathematical optimization when selecting the optimal location. The experiment was conducted in Songpa-gu, Seoul. A total of 36 optimal locations were selected from a total of 258 candidate facilities. First, the evaluation criteria were established using public data, and the primary candidate facilities were selected by ranking the location scores. At this time mesh resampling method was used to integrate various public data into one. Next, the final care facilities were selected using the p-median method. The results chosen are not only the optimal location considering total distance but also satisfy various location criteria considering the characteristics of the care facility. We expect that the proposed method will contribute to public data convergence or utilization and it will be helpful for policy decision when selecting the optimal location for public facilities.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.96-131
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• 2019

Initially entering into the job market during hard times with unfavorable market institutions has a persistent, negative effect on young workers' subsequent employment. This paper analyzes hysteresis in youth unemployment by using a composite fixed-effect panel data model. Data sets for the age-cohort unemployment rate and for labor market institutions are constructed from OECD statistics from 21 advanced economies, including Korea, from 1985 to 2017, and are then readjusted to match with the peculiarities of the Korean market. In Korea, with a less-aggressive stance on active labor market policy spending, a male worker who experiences a one percentage point higher youth unemployment rate when he was 20- to 29-years-old has a 0.146 percentage point higher unemployment rate at the ages of 30-to 34-years-old and a 0.035 percentage point higher unemployment rate at the age of 35- to 39-years-old. These figures are larger than those in most countries that have more aggressive spending schemes. These findings point out that hysteresis in the Korean labor market can be mitigated by expanding active labor market policy spending more aggressively and more effectively.