Characteristics and Socio-Demographic Distribution of Precarious Employment Among Korean Wage Workers: A Proposition of Multidimensional Approach Using a Summative Score

Introduction: There is a growing global interest in the issue of precarious employment. We aimed to analyze the characteristics and socio-demographic distribution of precarious employment using a summative score approach. Methods: To operationalize precarious employment, we utilized data from the Korean Working Conditions Survey and focused on three distinct dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and a lack of rights and protections. By constructing a summative scale ranging from -16 to 2, with lower scores indicating higher precariousness, we measured employment precariousness among Korean wage workers. To compare employment precariousness according to survey participant characteristics, we employed the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. Results: We analyzed a weighted number of 38,432 workers. The overall sample showed a median (Q1, Q3) summative scale score of -3 (-6, -1). The median summative score was lower for women compared to men (men: -2; women: -5; p