It's More Than an M-shape: The Political Economy of Female Non-Standard Workers in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

This study examines the re-entrance of female workers into the Korean labor market. We highlight that women in their 40s have the highest rate of employment among all female workers and that a large proportion of these women are entering into non-standard employment. In approaching this question, we examine the political economy of this phenomenon by first discussing the demand side of the Korean labor market using the gendering of the varieties of capitalism argument and then the supply side with the work-life balance argument. When examining re-entrance into the labor market, women with general skills with lower education and higher education both found it more feasible to re-enter the labor market as non-standard workers. While work-life balance is a prominent reason for women's choice of opting out of the labor market, work-life balance choice mattered less for women re-entering the labor market as non-standard workers in their 40s and 50s but instead firmly based skill formation mattered more. In addition, the retail service industry is suggested to absorb a large number of female workers with lower skill levels who would have had difficulties in re-entering other male-oriented companies. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.