• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.71-102
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• 2020

This study analyzes the effect of demographic changes on economic growth. We use the supply-side output identity to forecast the growth potential of the Korean economy. According to the results, even based on optimistic assumptions and prospects, the economic growth rate is likely to fall drastically starting in 2020. Of course, to maintain growth potential, efforts to increase productivity are necessary. However, given the historical experience of developed countries, it is not clear whether the huge trend of demographic change can be offset by efforts to increase productivity. In the so-called '30-50 club' countries, both labor productivity and growth rate tend to fall after reaching the per capita income of $30,000. The degree of decline in the growth rate is closely related to changes in the working age population and the prime-age workforce. The results are similar when tracking the path of changes in total factor productivities of the economy. When a certain level of income is reached, the increase in total factor productivity also tends to slow down. The ripple effects of rapid changes in demographics will indeed be extensive. The negative impact is likely to be concentrated at a time when the working age population, the prime-age workforce, and the total population shrink simultaneously. Above all, it is necessary to use the government's fiscal space to block the possibility of a rapid fall in the growth rate. In addition, it is important to continuously implement various reform tasks that should be promoted, such as improving the education system and strengthening the social safety net.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 1990

This is a study which attempt to analyze changing patierns of economic active popu-lation, t o estimato- future patterns, and exa- mine vartons problems arises by changing c ire u mst ances of t he labor force market in- clunging soici al, economic ic, heathl th and demoi-graph ic aspects. We have constructed series of wotking life table which are useful in syt uiolyioig the lirocess of growth and structural change of labor force. Work i ng life tables represent ihie life eyele of econrmic' activity in hi ypothetical cohorts, that is. gen-erat i on of men Sn bject at eat' b period ot f their lives th given ra to's o mor tali it y and of par-- tici pation in economic activities. The tabloes prot' ide measorues of the alvet'age he ng t able of economically aeti \- e life. and agespecific rates of en trannee' into and retirement from the hahn' force. In const routing working life tables, age-specific activity rates and life tabole popula- titoto which represents contemporary condi-tions of moortality in Korea au'e the basic' maltoerials. We have derived the age-specific rates foorm economically active population survey, whoich were conducted by the Bureau of Statistics, Economic Planning Borard of the Korean government. Working life tables are constructed for men wtable these materi- als in the year of 1970, 1980 and 1988 by a modified Wolfbein-Wool's method. Some of the findings may be summerized as follow : 1) A central part of constructing working life table is calculation of stationary' economic active population, which represents the number of men in the stationtary population extoected to be in the labor force at each age group in the life span. The stationary economic active population by age have generally a universal pattern, where they rise sharply in the early twenties, approach its' peak in the thirties decline thereafter. at first graolually and then more rapidly at an advanced age. Korean men show the same general pa ttern of age distribution of stationary eco-- nomic active population with sharp increase hegining from the age interval of 20 to 24, reaching to maximum level at older age. The population. however, presumably, increased substantially due to increaseing school atte endance rates. Another difference exiSts in the youngest age groups, that is the activity rate in the year of 1988 is lower than that of Japan. The table shows an analysis of changes in the age distrihution of labor force between 1970, 1980 and 1988. 2) It was shown an analysis of changes in the age distribution and cause of separation from labor force. The entrance rate to labor force has increased from 18~\5 persons to 299 persons per 1000 head of stationary population between that of 1980 than that of 1988 for Korean men in 20~24 age group. The entrace rate to labor force shows a rapid entrance appearance concentrated on the 15~24 age group. The separation rate from labor force by retirment in Korea in the year of 1988 shows a great difference of the about four times as much as that of Japan. 3) The functions of table illustrate the patterns of working life of males in Korea in 1970, 1980 and 1988. The average remaining number of economically active years, e at age 15 in 1988 is 46.39 which is 2.12 years of increase compared with that of at age 15 in 1970,1980 and 1988 are 43.90,44.27 and 46.39 respectively, showing steadily increase dur- ing the past double decade the increase in the length of economically active life various age may be considered to have come both from extention of general life expectancy and from increasing entrance rate to economic activity in high age that of working is far greater in 1988 than that of 1980. The gaps between expectation of life and average remaining years of economically active widened due to rapid improvement of mortality level in Ko- rea. This observation together with the population pressure by the appearance of a group of younger population implies that constant increase of economically inactive population among older age group.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.13-29
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• 1986

This study was carried out to calculate working life expectancy and its potential gains according to the degree of reduction in the specific causes of death. It sought to ascertain what potential gains in labor force longevity might be reasonably achieved through efforts to reduce mortality from injuries and poisoning, diseases of circulatory system, neoplasms and the other causes of death. The data were drawn from the three sources such as "The 1982 Causes of Death Statistics," "Abridged Life Table for Korea 1978~'79" and "The 1982 annual Report of Economically Active Population" issued by Economic Planning Board. Analytical tools used in this study were the cause-deleted life table and the Wolfbein Wool's working life table method. Partial life expectancy was adopted as an index of this study, This application will be widely used as a good demographic tool for analyzing the dynamics of labor force and causes of death. Some of the findings are summerized as follows. 1. Partial life expectancies from initial age 15, 25, and 45 respectively to terminal age 65 are 44.86, 35.59 and 17.41 year in life expectancy itself, 37.08, 32.83 and 15.21 year in working life expectancy, 7.78, 2.76 and 2.20 years in inactive life years. 2. Potential gains in working expectancy from initial age 15, 25 and 45 to terminal age 65 by the complete elimination of the specific causes of death are 1.36, 0.94 and 0.27 years in injuries and poisoning, 0.88, 0.83 and 0.54 years in diseases of circulatory system, 0.56, 0.54 and 0.37 years in neoplasms, 1.13, 1.02 and 0.58 years in the other causes of death. The relationship between degree of reduction in causes of death and potential gains in working life years is in direct proportion. The prime orders of reduction effectiveness in age groups by the causes of death are injuries and poisoning in age 15-24, the other causes of death in age 25-49 and diseases of circulatory system in age 50 and over. 3. If it were possible to reduce 25%, 50% and 75% in mortality condition 1978~'79, the average length of working life would be 38.08, 39.13 and 40.17 years in age 15, and 33.68, 34.57 and 35.44 years in age 25, and 15.67, 16.14 and 16.63 years in age 45.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.271-297
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• 2005

Since the 1980s, the western welfare states have experienced a wide spectrum of socio-economic changes; changes in population composition, the economic globalization, the post-industrialization, an increasing flexibility in the labor market. etc. This study examines the trend of poverty in welfare states, and analyzes how those socio-economic changes are related to it. For these purposes, this study first calculates the poverty indices for several years in 10 welfare states using the Luxembourg Income Study database, and then decomposes the index by subpopulation and income sources. Major findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First of all, the welfare state in general has experienced an increasing trend in the degree of poverty since the 1980s. In particular, poverty has greatly intensified in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Many other welfare states including Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Norway have also experienced substantial increases in poverty. The increasing trend of poverty is not wholly due to changes in population composition such as increases in the aging population and one-parent(mother) families. Contrary to the traditional belief, these population groups are not as much poor as the working-age population. In particular, the degree of poverty in the elderly is less severe than in the working-age group. Furthermore, since the 1980s the market income poverty in the aging population has shown a decreasing trend in many welfare states. The degree and trend of poverty in one-parent families vary greatly across countries, owing to the labor market and income transfer policies. The most important reason for the increasing poverty trend in the welfare state is that the degree of poverty has been deepening in the working-age population. Especially, the market income poverty of the working-age population has considerably increased in every country except the Netherlands. Structural changes in the economy and the labor market may drive the increasing trend of poverty. Further studies and deliberate anti-poverty policies are needed to tackle the factors relating to the increase in the market income poverty.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.66-73
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the trajectory of change of diverse attention and working memory in Koreans from 4 to 40 years of age. Methods: The data of 912 subjects from 4 to 15 years of age obtained from a previous standardization study of the computerized comprehensive attention test were merged with the newly obtained data of 150 subjects aged 16 to 40 years from this study. We evaluated the various kinds of attention, in which each subtest had five indicators. Working memory, with parameters such as number of correct responses and span, was also measured. Results: Our findings indicated that attention developed as age increased, and it decreased or was maintained after a certain age. Selective and sustained attention developed rapidly in children and adolescents, until mid-teens or 20 s when it ceased development. Divided attention, however, developed up to approximately age 20. In addition, working memory developed until mid-teens or 20 s. Conclusion: We presented the standardized data on diverse kinds of attention and working memory in children, adolescents, and adults in Korea. We could recognize any patterns of change in attention and working memory with increasing age.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Although the working environment has changed significantly compared to the past, such as the implementation of the five-day work week and the aging of the population, it is not reflected in the current industrial accident index calculation such as frequency rate, severity rate, and safe T-score. In this study, statistical data were used to understand time-series trends such as increase in life expectancy, working age, shortening of working hours, and average age of death by accident. As a result of time series trend analysis of statistical data, life expectancy increased to 83.3 years, and the legal working age was raised to 65 years due to the aging of the population. Also, with the advent of the 5-day work week since 2001, the average annual working hours decreased to 2008.1 hours. It can be confirmed through statistical data that these phenomena are applied to the current working environment due to a complex action, and these environmental changes affect the calculation results of the industrial accident index.

• 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 the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.102-107
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• 2022

South Korea will soon be a super-aged society, as more than 20.6% of its population will be 65 years and older by 2025. As of 2022, 17.5% of the total population in South Korea is 65 years and older, which exceeds the set threshold for an aged society, where more than 14% of the population is 65 years and older. The proportion of older subway construction workers has increased. Aging workers and their work stress negatively impact their workability. A previous study demonstrated that the stress index measured using the uBioMacpa measurement device (Macpa stress index) had a significant correlation with work stress in South Korea. The device tests vascular health and measures stress levels via Macpa signal analysis. In this study, the pulse waves of subway construction workers were measured using uBioMacpa to identify their stress levels. The stress levels were analyzed by age, years of service, job position, employment type, and work type. Herein, these statistics could not be easily represented by a normal distribution; therefore, the Kruskal-Wallis test, a nonparametric statistical method, was used for the analysis of data. The results showed that age, job position, employment type, and working type affected the Macpa stress index and the stress levels of workers increased with age. In terms of job position, technical engineers were more stressed than other workers because of their poor working environment. In terms of employment type, daily-wage workers were more stressed than other workers. In terms of working type, tunneling, waterproofing, and construction scored the highest Macpa stress indexes without any significant difference, whereas earthworks scored the lowest. Based on the analysis of Macpa stress index, safety and health management plans were proposed to reduce the stress levels of workers. Moreover, a manual for efficient stress management must be developed for subway construction workers.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.79-113
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• 2003

This study is intended to explore an income level necessart for the old-age by income Status. Firstly, it is verified whether there is significant difference between old-age and working age or not. Secondly, if their difference is found, it will be identified that it is determined by certain factors. Thirdly, it is brought out needful income level for the old-age living through analysing old-age consumption expenditure level over working age. The results in this research are as follows. Firstly, there is a significant difference between old-age and working age. Secondly, the major factors which generated difference between old-age and working age consumption expenditure are income, household size, and age. Thirdly, the income level necessary for oldage living is on average 61 %. By income status, it is 90-100% for low income status, 60-70% for middle income status, 50-60% for high income status.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.267-271
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• 2023

Background: The objective of this study is to identify the working conditions and health status of Vietnamese male migrant workers in Republic of Korea, in comparison to the Korean general population. Methods: We conducted our survey through the Migrant People Center, and we received completed questionnaires from 87 male Vietnamese migrant workers. The questionnaire employed was identical to those used in the Korean Working Conditions Survey and the 2020 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The collected data from the Vietnamese migrant workers was then compared with the Korean reference population using indirect age-standardization. Results: Vietnamese male workers demonstrated a higher prevalence of health problems including hearing problems (age-standardized prevalence ratio (aSPR) 13.22, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.07-20.4), skin problems (aSPR 13.49, 95% CI: 8.07-20.4), and low back pain (aSPR 8.40, 95% CI: 6.50-10.69). Elevated exposure to workplace hazards such as chemicals (aSPR 2.36, 95% CI: 1.51-3.51), organic solvents (aSPR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.44-3.28), handling of heavy objects (aSPR 1.67, 95% CI: 1.24-2.21), and high temperatures (aSPR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.46-2.57) was observed among them. Additionally, they faced a higher risk of no personal protective equipment (aSPR 2.53, 95% CI: 1.26-4.52) and a greater prevalence of unmet medical needs (aSPR 7.14, 95% CI: 4.74-10.32). Conclusion: Our findings highlight the elevated workplace hazards, health problems, and unmet medical needs among Vietnamese male workers compared to the Korean reference population. These findings underscores the urgency for enhanced scrutiny over working conditions and protective equipment provision, coupled with efforts to improve healthcare accessibility and worker education.