Economic Crisis and Female Workers: Post-1997 Experiences in Korea Jiyeun CHANG (Korea Labor Institute) 7 th Meeting of the DAC Network on Gender Equality, OECD June 10-12, 2009
Key points 1. LF withdrawals were severe for women in crisis. 2. Worsen quality of jobs. - After crisis, ular jobs were created with higher proportion. It caused bi-polarization in income. 3. LM situations might result in social exclusion. - Non-regular jobs: Stepping stone? Or Trap? - The characteristics of social safety net is critical.
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1997 Economic Crisis IMF bailout roan applied for at the end of 1997 International devaluation of Korean won and national credit Corporate bankruptcies increased dramatically First negative GDP growth since 1980 GDP Growth Rate (%) Per Capita Income(US$) 15 10 5 0-5 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000-10 GDP Growth Rate (%) Per Capita Income(US$)
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 1. Labor force withdrawals Labor force participation rate of women dropped dramatically in 1998, but have recovered the level for 10 years. 80 75 Labor force participation rates General characteristics: 70 65 60 - low LFPR 55 - huge gender gap - Distinction between unemployment and out-of-lf is less meaningful for women. 50 45 40 male female
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2. Job Quality (1) ular jobs Non-regular jobs increased temporary or daily jobs increased, while unpaid family workers decreased Proportion of temporary or daily workers 80 70 60 Compositions of female workers 50 40 30 20 male female
2. Job Quality (2) Polarization Between 1993-2004, jobs in upper and lower deciles increased. Job creations by job quality deciles (1993-2004) male female Source: Cheon(2007)
3. Job Quality (2) Polarization, Female jobs created in lower deciles Male lost in mid quality jobs female male
3. Social Exclusion (1) Mobility LM situations might result in social exclusion. (1a) Non-regular job looks trap rather than stepping stone - analysis on adjacent two jobs of a person - longitudinal data from 1997 to 2006 (KLIPS) Non-regular job: outflow self/ family 2% Regular job: inflow No work 13% nonregular 3% Regular 82%
3. Social Exclusion (1) Mobility, cont (1b) a result of observing job mobility for 10 years (KLIPS) - Only 39% of women and 44% of men maintain regular jobs. female male ->regular 8% regular-> 7% other 12% regular 38% -> regular 6% regular -> 5% other 15% regular 44% self-emp 22% 13% self-emp 20% 10%
3. Social exclusion (2) Poverty (2) Long-term ular workers have higher risks of poverty. - They have 5 times higher risks of low wage than long-term regular workers. (2/3 of mean wage or less) - Among families of long-term ular worker, relative poverty rate - 21.5%, absolute poverty rate 16.2% Poverty rates by mobility types (%) 25 21.54 50 low wage proportion by mobility types (%) 47.7 40 33.6 28.2 30 21.5 19.7 20 9.7 10 20 15 10 5 5.27 6.99 16.19 9.92 12.35 11.35 15.54 7.46 10.66 9.54 11.75 0 regular self-emp reg- - > >reg other 0 regular self-emp reg->nonreg nonreg->reg other absolute poverty relative poverty
3. Social exclusion (3) welfare system (3a) Welfare system couldn t disconnect the low wage poverty relation. - Korean gov. expanded social insurance system right after econ. crisis (old-age, unemployment, industrial, health). - However, the system mostly protects regular salaried workers. Less than 30% of female salaried workers are insured from unemployment. total female 70 70 60 60 50 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 10 10 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 in reg. workers in salaried workers in all workers
3. Social exclusion (3) welfare system (3b) Although social expenditures increased dramatically, about 50% are allocated exclusively to insured regular workers. - Strong interaction between LM position and social insurance may result in exclusion of vulnerable female workers from social protection. social expenditures (%) Public assistance Public service Social insurance Medical care Legal corporate welfare Amount in total (Unit: billion won) 1990 11.4 13.9 23.3 25.5 25.7 7,547 2000 8.0 14.3 25.0 14.4 37.8 47,900 2005 12.6 13.1 24.1 26.2 23.1 73,345