• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.13-29
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• 2018

Currently, rural labor markets are undergoing a structural change in which the proportion of non-agricultural industries is increasing, instead of decreasing the proportion of agriculture. The purpose of this study is to propose policy for job creation in rural areas through analyzing the employment situation in Rural Korea in the context of this structural change. Using the Census of Agriculture, Farm Household Economy Survey, we analyzed the increase of low income farmers and self-employed farmers. We analyzed the changes of non-farm employment in rural areas using the Census on Establishment. The main results of the study are as follows. First, farms' pathways are very diverse by the levels of income from their own farming and other gainful activities. It is necessary to implement policies that take into account the development pathways of farm household. Second, most of the farms are in low-income and self-employment status. In order to increase their incomes, it is necessary to increase non-farm income earning policy. The rural non-farm economy is becoming increasingly important in rural Korea. The growth of the non-farm economy will be crucially important when it comes to creating new jobs in rural areas in rural Korea. Third, it is necessary to provide systematic support for rural entrepreneurship as a core policy for expanding jobs beyond agriculture. Rural entrepreneurship has the potential to drive innovations that can reduce poverty and create employment. Fourth, there is a need for measures to increase jobs in the welfare field, which is growing fastest in recent years. In the welfare field, we can find vigorous collective actions in some rural communities such as community business, cooperative movement and various community development activities. Those activities will help increase the employment of aged farmers and low-income farm household.