Self-employment’s vulnerability to socioeconomic and working conditions: results from the Korean Working Condition Survey (2006-2014)

Abstract

# Background Self-employed professionals are responsible for the major part of the labor market. It is essential to understand the characteristics of the self-employed to promote "decent work" for this segment of workers. The current study aimed to describe the personal and work-related attributes of the self-employed group in South Korea. # Methods We used data from the 2006, 2010, and 2014 Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS). For the current study, a total of 41,775 subjects included and classified them into for self-employed workers (small business owners with 0-4 employees and middle to large business owners with more than 5 employees) and workers with standard full-time employment. Socio-demographic variables included age, gender, educational attainment, income per month, and occupation. Work-related attributes included work time, weekend work, "presenteeism", and work--life balance. # Results The percentage of self-employed people increased to 32.78% in 2010 and then decreased to 32.2% in 2014 to return to the same level in 2006. In comparison to middle to large business owners or workers in standard employment, small business owners were more likely to be older and male, earn lower levels of monthly income, attain lesser levels of education, and were engaged in manual and service positions. They worked longer weekday hours, worked more often on the weekends, and worked even when they were sick. Small business owners were particularly susceptible to imbalances between work and other aspects of their lives. # Conclusions Our descriptive investigation showed that self-employed individuals, especially those heading small businesses, were more likely to be exposed to socioeconomic disadvantages and to the worst working conditions than standard waged workers.