• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.517-521
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to investigate whether working long hours was related to infertility among female Korean workers, while taking age into consideration. Methods: We used data from the 2018 National Survey on Fertility and Family Health and Welfare in Korea that is a cross-sectional, nationally representative, and population-based survey. Infertility was defined as women who were not pregnant after regular unprotected intercourse for a year. Working long hours was classified as ≥52 hours, and subgroups as per age were classified on the basis of being younger or older than 40 years of age. Differences in infertility risk between the long working hour group and none were estimated in crude and fully adjusted logistic regression models with age-group stratification. Results: Of 5,909 Korean female workers, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of infertility for working long hours were 1.295 (0.948-1.737) and 1.303 (0.921-1.809), respectively. In the subgroup of patients below 40 years of age, the crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.957 (1.216-3.039) and 1.921 (1.144-3.120), whereas those aged 40 years or older had 0.994 (0.647-1.471) and 0.939 (0.560-1.501), respectively. The weighted prevalence of infertility increased as weekly working hours increased only for the younger than 40-year subgroup. Conclusions: Infertility is associated with working long hours, especially in young-aged workers. Thus, the working schedule must be structured to better suit young female workers.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.97-118
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to provide background information to help develop family-friendly policies which aid in the ability for employees to balance family and work, and to increase the effectiveness and feasibility of these policies at work sites. We surveyed the performance and usage of work-family balance policies among working mothers with young children. We also examined the factors influencing the job satisfaction of working mothers. The study sample consisted of 237 working mothers with young children. We found that family economic status, working mother's experience of family leave or maternity leave, and easiness of policy use are important factors in a working mother's job satisfaction. Especially when individual and job characteristics are controlled, the most influential factor on working mothers' job satisfaction was the experience of family leave or maternity leave. In addition, the easiness of family-friendly policy use was a significant factor in working mothers' job-satisfaction.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.51-74
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• 2015

This study aimed to identify differences in the level of work-life balance as well as the effect of independent variables, including family (sharing family work, support for working), organization (culture, support services and systems), and community variables (accessibility to and amount of work-life balance programs), on work-life balance in South Korea, Japan, and the U.K. For these purposes, data were collected from 311, 324, and 322 married, working women (from 30 to 50 years of age) from Korea, Japan, and the U.K., respectively. It was consistently shown that U.K. employees scored higher in work-life balance than Korean and Japanese employees. Compared with Japan and the U.K., Korean participants were significantly lower in terms of work-leisure balance and work-self-development balance. The regression analysis revealed that 'sharing family work with partner' was commonly important and a major factor in all three countries. A 'supportive organizational culture' predicted work-life balance for Korean and Japanese participants, while work-life balance programs had a powerful effect on work-life balance only for U.K. participants. In the case of community variables, there were no significant effects for U.K. participants with regard to work-life balance. In contrast, 'the amount of work-life balance programs offered' was shown to affect the work-life balance of Korean working women, while 'accessibility to the programs' was significantly influential in Japan. We interpret these results according to social, economic, political, and psychological factors.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.57-84
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to develop a leisure program that combines yoga and tea meditation affects the positive mood states and happiness of elementary working wives in their 50's. For this study, a pre and posttest control group design was used. A total of 46 subjects were allocated equally to the experimental group and the control group. A pretest, comprising 13 sessions of treatment, and a posttest were conducted. Of the 23 subjects in the experimental group, 16 were selected as interviewees and underwent in-depth interviews. The main results of this study are as follows: First, the experimental group of middle-aged working wives showed higher positive mood states(t=-3.494, p<.01) and higher levels of happiness(t=2.236, p<.05) after the program compared to the control group. Second, after participating in the study, those who had undergone in-depth interviews indicated that their lives had changed to become more confident, happy, comfortable, and self-directed, and that this change had positively impacted their relationships. In conclusion, in a situation where the lives, leisure and happiness of middle-aged working wives is becoming a social problem and a topic of discussion for national policies, it would be beneficial to develop and establish leisure programs for this population in order to promote health and happiness.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the effect of work-family conflict on organizational effectiveness, focusing on the moderating effect of organizational support among married working women of health services organizations. Data were collected from 149 married working women of health services organizations located in Busan Metropolitan areas by structured self-administered questionnaire. Main results of this study is as the following: First, based on the type of work-household conflicts, namely time-based conflict(2.82 points), strain-based conflict(2.81 points) and behavior-based conflict(2.69 points), working women mainly experienced time and strain-based conflicts. The level of work-household conflicts was significantly higher among younger groups, highly educated, nurses, and regular workers. Second, the perceived organizational effectiveness found to be an above-average. Especially scores were high in the subcategories of customer orientation(3.84), followed by organizational commitment (3.42) and job satisfaction(3.19). The level of organizational effectiveness was significantly higher among older groups, medical technician and administrative job holders, day-time workers, and higher income groups. Third, the results of the regression analysis on the effects of work-household conflicts on organizational effectiveness showed that strain-based conflicts have a significant negative effect on organizational effectiveness such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Fourth, organizational support found to have a strong controlling effect for strain-based conflicts on organizational effectiveness. Above results imply that practical family-supportive policies for lessening the work-household conflicts is crucial for enhancing organizational effectiveness in health services organization.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 2007

The study is attempted to help double-income families use resources efficiently and rationally by analyzing The Time Use each of working women and housewives having preschool children based on the data of The Time Use survey carried out in 2004 and promote understandings on their quality of life, lifestyle and family welfare. To this end, the study analyzes the actual The Time Use of double-income families haying preschool children. The findings of the study are as follows: First, according to the comparison of The Time Use between double-income families and single-income families in 1999 and 2004, there is no significant difference in husbands' participation time in family management or family care between 1999 and 2004. Second, according to the comparison of The Time Use between double-income families and single-income families depending on the presence or non-presence of preschool children, families haying preschool children spent much more hours in family care than families without preschool children. Third, according to the comparison of the weekend schedule between double-income families and single-income families, it is found that working women work much more than housewives not only on weekdays but also on weekends and in particular, it is found that working women having preschool children work 2 hours longer than housewives.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.80-92
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• 2017

Fashion trend is more than a social phenomenon that multitudes of people accept as popular styles of clothing. The purpose of this study was to understand the influence of fashion trend over time and distance. Geographically thousands of miles apart, the U.S. has strongly influenced fashion in Korea, revealed by references and historic depictions collected from literature and web sites. Results of the study are summarized as five issues: First, emergence of female missionaries from the U.S. American missionaries working in the late Great Korean Empire performed a significant role importing Western culture to Korea. Second, as opportunities of education increased, women studying abroad introduced Western fashion to Koreans when they returned to Korea. They were more open to Western culture than other Koreans and moderately harmonized their Korean sentiment and Western culture, mitigating cultural shock and enabled other Koreans to accept Western culture. Third, the effect of fashionistas on media. Singers working for U.S. armies stationed in Korea and movie stars appearing in Hollywood movies profoundly affected Korean pop culture and fashion trends in Korea. Fourth, following First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy of the U.S. She was an influential figure in those days and a fashion leader as well. Lastly, acceptance of working girl fashion depicted in American television shows. American working girls depicted on American TV shows were highly admired by young Korean women, so the fashion of American working girls became a major fad among young Korean women.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.69-78
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency and duration of primary health practitioners' work, and their job satisfaction, and to confirm differences in work and job satisfaction by type of primary health care post. Methods: Work frequency, duration of work, and job satisfaction were estimated by 371 primary health practitioners. Chi-square test and t-test were used to identify the differences in working patterns and job satisfaction by type of primary health care post. Results: Primary health practitioners were found to spend more time working with the elderly population than with students, pregnant women, children, people with disabilities, and multicultural families. Those in costal areas were more concerned with students than those working inland. In the latter group of practitioners, more time was spent working with patients with chronic diseases, pregnant women, women, children, multicultural families, and mental health clients. Also, the job satisfaction of inland primary health practitioners was significantly higher than that of costal practitioners. Conclusion: It is necessary to identify the characteristics of primary health practitioners' work, focusing on changes in the medical service environment. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide job training according to type of primary health care post, as practitioners' approaches should differ between posts.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.652-660
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• 2005

This study is performed for the investigation of management of personnel, wages, welfare, communication, labor, safety, treatment improvement according to assigned working places(primary, middle and high school). This study is based on the final analysis summarized on the 285 questionnaire answered by employee for school foodservice in Buchon city after distributing total 500 questionnaire. The conclusion of this analysis of study is as following. This report says the reason of this mind is caused by hard work. This investigation says they feel to be compensated with low wages on the contrary their hard working and this caused them to demoralize and increase to give up their jobs. The long tenn vacation like childcare vacation is newly established by present improvement of working condition but this improvement action is ineffective. Many of them are feeling to a fatigue and ill health and the condition of occupational disease as hard work. The present improvement of irregular employee treatment like above cases is not effective. So the rewards and payment shall be considered according to their hard work and the working condition must be improved practically for the settlement of their job without leaving.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.470-475
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• 2019

Background: There is a lack of statistical analysis investigating the relationship between sleep problems and commute time in Korea. We aimed to analyze the association between representative health symptoms, sleep disturbances, and commute time according to working hours in Korea. Methods: The 4th Korean Working Conditions Survey data were used for analysis, and unpaid family workers and workers who work fewer than three days in a week were excluded. Commute time, working hours, and sleep hours were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for sleep problems were calculated using a multivariate logistic regression model with ≤10 min commute time as the reference group. Results: Among a total of 28,804 workers (men = 14,945, women = 13,859), 2.6% of men and 3.2% of women experienced sleep problems. In both sexes, long commute time (51-60 minutes and >60 minutes) showed an increased OR [men, 2.03 (CI = 1.32-3.13) and 2.05 (CI = 1.33-3.17); women, 1.58 (CI = 1.05-2.39) and 1.63 (CI = 1.06-2.50), respectively]. In stratification analysis of working hours, long commute time (51-60 and > 60 minutes) showed an increased OR in men working >40 hours/week [2.08 (CI = 1.16-3.71) and 1.92 (CI = 1.08-3.41), respectively]. Furthermore, long commute time (41-50, 51-60, and >60 minutes) showed an increased OR in women working >40 hours/week [2.40 (CI = 1.27-4.55), 2.28 (CI = 1.25-4.16), and 2.19 (CI = 1.17-4.16), respectively]. Moreover, commute time >60 minutes showed an increased OR in women working ≤40 hours/week [1.96 (CI = 1.06-3.62)]. Conclusion: This large cross-sectional study highlights that long commute time is related to sleep problems in both sexes. Shorter commute times and decreased working hours are needed to prevent sleep problems in workers.