• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.108-113
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between changes in employment status and new-onset depressive symptoms through a one-year follow-up of permanent waged workers. Methods: We analyzed the open-source data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Using the 2017 data, we selected 2,314 permanent waged workers aged 19 to 59 years without depressive symptoms as a base group. The final analysis targeted 2,073 workers who were followed up in 2018. In 2018, there were five categories of employment status for workers who were followed up: permanent, precarious, unemployed, self-employed, and economically inactive. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the association between employment status change and new-onset depressive symptoms. Results: Adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis showed that among male workers, workers who went from permanent status to being unemployed (odds ratio: 4.50, 95% confidence interval: 1.19 to 17.06) and from permanent status to being precarious workers (odds ratio: 3.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.30 to 7.65) had significantly high levels of new-onset depressive symptoms compared with those who retained their permanent employment status. There were no significant increases in new-onset depressive symptoms of male workers who went from permanent status to being self-employed or economically inactive. On the other hand, no significant differences were found among female workers. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the change of employment status to precarious workers or unemployment can cause new-onset depressive symptoms in male permanent waged workers.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.139-154
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• 2018

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine factors influencing health-related quality of life of waged workers. Methods: This study used data from the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Data were analyzed with the $x^2-test$, t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Results: The significant predictors of health-related quality of life were depression, subjective health status, age, activity limitation, education, worker status, monthly income, drinking, smoking, physical injury, stress, and moderate physical activity. Conclusions: Personal health characteristics, psychological characteristics, socioeconomic characetrictics and working characetrictics affect health-related quality of life. Health-related quality of life is also affected by social structural problems such as socioeconomic factors and employment instabilitye. In addition to the development of health care programs to improve health-related quality of life of twaged workers, policy changes are needed to improve the social structure.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.504-511
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• 2019

Objectives: We evaluated the physical and mental health problems of waged workers in Korea who had different classes of occupation. Methods: We used data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007-2017) to examine 22,788 workers who were waged employees and categorized these workers into 5 occupational classes. Results: "Unskilled manual workers" were more likely to be older, less educated, have lower monthly income, and work fewer hours per week. Among men and relative to "managers and professionals" (reference group), "skilled manual workers" were more likely to have physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis, "clerks" were less likely to report suicidal ideation, and "unskilled manual workers" were more likely to report suicidal ideation. Among women and relative to "managers and professionals" (reference group), "service and sales workers" and "unskilled manual workers" were more likely to report physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis, depressive feelings, and suicidal ideation. However, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases did not differ among the occupational classes for men and women. Conclusion: We identified differences between men and women and among those in different occupational classes regarding employment status, physical health, and mental health. "Unskilled manual workers" of both genders were more likely to be older, less educated, have less monthly income, work fewer hours per week, and have suicidal ideation. Female "service and sales workers" were more likely to have osteoarthritis, depressive feelings, and suicidal ideation.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-21
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• 2020

The purpose of this research was, first, to classify work-life satisfaction among married wage workers aged 20-59 years into several distinct types based on two dimensions of work and life, using data from the 20th(2017) wave of the Korean Labor & Income Panel Study. Second, the study aimed to assess the differences in socio-demographic characteristics (sex, age, educational level, average monthly income), and workplace-related variables (weekly working hours, full-time employment, job stability, business type, family-friendly leave policies) by work-life satisfaction type. Accordingly, four types of work-life satisfaction were identified: work-life satisfaction, work-life dissatisfaction, work satisfaction, and life satisfaction. There was a significant difference in the type of work-life satisfaction among married waged workers based on sex, age, educational level, and average monthly income. Additionally, there was a significant difference in the type of work-life satisfaction for all workplace-related variables, namely, weekly working hours, full-time employment, job stability, business type, and family-friendly leave policies. In particular, proportionally higher values of work-life satisfaction were evident among the workers in companies with family-friendly leave policies such as paid leave, menstrual leave, maternity leave, childcare leave, and family events leave, whereas there was a high rate of work-life dissatisfaction among the workers in companies without family-friendly leave policies.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.73-101
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• 2021

Employing bunching estimators of Cengiz et al. (2019) for data from the "Economically Active Population Survey," this paper estimates the effect of minimum wage increases on the volume of waged employment for the period 2009-2019. A bunching estimator, which exploits yearly changes in the hourly wage distribution due to the minimum wage hike, can be easily applied to the Korean labor market, which adopts the yearly single national minimum wage. The estimation results suggest that an increase in the annual minimum wage during the period from 2009 to 2019 had a negative effect on the volume of waged employment. A 10% increase in the (real) minimum wage leads to a 1.42~1.74% decrease in the volume of waged employment. Disemployment effects of minimum wage hikes are greater in the sector with a higher proportion of minimum wage workers. It is necessary to carefully consider disemployment effects in determining the level of the minimum wage.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.34
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• pp.44.1-44.12
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• 2022

Background: Recently, use of work-related communication technology-smartphones, tablets, and laptops-is increasing rapidly by development of technology with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Some studies have suggested that work-related communication technology has a significant link with work-family conflict (WFC) but these studies included only limited number of participants and lacked essential covariates. Therefore, this study analyzes this association using large representative data sample and selected waged workers who were married-couples with children. Methods: This study was conducted based on data from the 6th Korean Working Conditions Surveys (KWCS). A total of 17,426 waged workers having a marriage partner and one or more children were selected. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether WFC was associated with communication technology use. The odds ratios (ORs) for WFC were stratified by sex and working hours. Results: In fully adjusted model, WFC was higher those who used communication technology outside regular working hours compared with those who did not use it (OR: 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39-1.97). When stratified by sex and working hours, the effect was greater in women than in men (OR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.42-2.26 vs. OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.17-1.97) and women who worked over 52 hours per week had the highest OR (3.40; 95% CI: 1.25-9.26). Conclusions: This study revealed that the work-related communication technology use outside regular working hours was associated with WFC. The association were greater among those having longer working hours and female workers. These results suggest that appropriate policy should be implemented to reduce working hours and right to disconnect after work, particularly in female workers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.116-128
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• 2022

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the association of working posture with headache/eye strain in Korean waged workers. Methods: Data were collected from the 5th Korean Working Condition Survey. A total of 30,955 workers participated in this study. A four-items of working postures were measured using a 7-point Likert scale, and we categorized them into three groups ('normal', 'moderate', and 'severe') each 4 items. Headache/eye strain were measured using a self-administrative questionnaire ('yes' vs. 'no'). To examine the relationship between the total working postures score and headache/eye strain, we summed a 4-items of working postures. It was categorized into five groups according to the severity of exposures('normal', 'mild', 'moderate', 'severe', and 'very severe'). The multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS(Ver. 25), and a p<.05 was considered significant. Results: The results show that 'fatiguing and painful posture' and 'posture repetitively using hands or arms' were associated with headache/eye strain after controlling for control variables. The total working posture score was positively associated with headache/eye strain. People with higher levels of the total working posture score were more likely to increase the risk of headache/eye strain compared to those of normal(OR: 1.844, 95% CI: 1.549~2.195 for 'mild'; OR: 2.564, 95% CI: 2.152~3.503 for 'moderate'; OR: 4.140, 95% CI: 3.432~4.994 for 'severe'; OR: 7.613, 95% CI: 5.625~10.304 for 'very severe') (p<.05 for trend). Conclusions: These results indicate that inappropriate working postures might play a crucial role in developing headache/eye strain. It is needed to improve the working environment, especially focusing on reducing inappropriate working posture at the organizational level.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.158-163
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• 2024

Objectives: The present paper aimed to examine whether an aging workforce is associated with an increase in work-related fatal injuries and to explore the underlying reasons for this potential increase. Material and methods: Aged workers were defined as those who were at least 55 years old. Work-related fatalities were assessed in aged and young workers who were registered with the workers' compensation system in 2021 in the Republic of Korea. Total waged workers, based on raw data from the Local Area Labor Force Survey in 2021, were used as the denominator to estimate the work-related fatality rates. Results: Most work-related fatalities in the aged workers occurred among individuals working in the "construction sector" (58.9%), those with "elementary occupations (unskilled workers)" (46.1%), and those with the employment status of "daily worker" (60.8%). The estimated incidence (0.973/10,000) of work-related fatalities among aged workers was about four times higher than that (0.239/10,000) among younger workers. "Falling," "collision," "struck by an object," and "trip and slip" were more frequent types of work-related fatalities among aged workers relative to young workers. The category of "buildings, structures, and surfaces" was a more frequent cause of work-related fatalities among aged workers than among young workers. Conclusions: Aged workers had a higher incidence of work-related fatalities than young workers. Frequent engagement in precarious employment and jobs, coupled with the greater physical vulnerability of aged workers, were likely causes of their higher level of work-related fatal injuries.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.85-110
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to examine whether health status is different according to employment status and income level in wage-earners. We analyzed wage-earners of 2199 men and 1194 women aged 30-64 years, using data from the 2006 Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS). The difference of health status according to employment status and income level was compared with the multiple logistic regression and the standardized concentration index of ill-health. The risk of ill-health was high when waged-earners had low income. The same is true for poor employment status when their employment status was unstable as in manual laborers, irregular workers, temporary, daily workers or part-time workers. furthermore, the wage-earners with lower income and a relatively disadvantageous employment status showed the lowest health status compared to other groups. Ill-health was relatively more concentrated in lower income group and poor employment status. This study identified the existence of health inequality among various employment status of wage-earners. It is suggested that policies that deal with the inequality in social class may have an important impact on the health of the population.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

This study examines the housing-related characteristics of unmarried youth using occupational history data from the 10th-14th (2016-2020) youth panel (YP2007) of the Korea Employment Information Service, and the characteristics of housing and employment. Their effect on marriage intention was empirically analyzed. The results of the analysis show that highly educated people, high-wage workers, household heads or economically independent young people, and young people in good financial conditions have a high willingness to marry. Their economic conditions are very important factors. Among the young employed who have become economically independent from their parents, full-time permanent workers, workers at large corporations, and highly waged youth showed a strong desire to get married. On the contrary, young people who are insecure temporary/daily workers, workers at small firms, and low-wage workers show a low willingness to marry. In conclusion, the results imply that young people who are in a vulnerable state in the labor market are giving up or delaying their marriage. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance policies to provide better employment opportunities for youth and, simultaneously, revamp the policy measures to enhance housing conditions.