한국여성의 생애과정과 경제활동 : 노동시장 진입·퇴장에 관한 종단적 연구

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This research explores the pattern of Korean women's labor force participation. In general, women's labor force participation follows M-curve pattern. But several recent research outcomes predict the qualitative change in traditional patterns of women's economic activity. First, this research hypothesizes that women's labor force supply model is still affected strongly by their life course stage. Second, this research analyzes the factors which determine women's entry into and withdrawal from the labor market.

This research investigates labor market dynamics, using longitudinal data and event history analysis, to conceptualize labor market behaviors. Because women's state of economic activity changes according to their life course stage, the static method using cross-sectional data is not proper in the research on the female labor force. Especially this dissertation employs "time dependent variables" in a research model.

In this paper, the scope of observation is limited to the timing of the entry into and withdrawal from the labor market, in order to investigate the labor market dynamics. For instance, the first entry into and withdrawal from the labor market, the reentry into and the rewithdrawal from the labor market can be observed respectively. The reason why the scope of observation is divided according to the timing of women's participation in the labor market is as follows: the factor influencing the entry into the labor market differs from the one influencing the withdrawal from the labor market, and the factor influencing the first participation in the labor market differs from the one influencing the second participation in the labor market.

In the first chapter, we find that women's pattern of labor force participation does not change across the birth cohort. The factor determining the entry into the labor market for the younger generation does not differ from that of the older generation. Moreover, the causes of career interruption for the younger generation are similar to those of the older generation. Unlike the predictions of human capital theory, women's human capital like educational attainment and background of their parents does not affect women's labor market behaviors, particularly their career interruption. Life course events such as marriage and birth rather than women's own human capital retard women's first entry into the labor markets. While women are in the labor, the second birth and existence of young children under age 6 are likely to interrupt women's careers rapidly.

The interesting fact is that in employed women's case, the life events like marriage and birth of children prolong their stay in work longer. Generally the life events like marriage and birth are known as barriers to women's labor force participation. So this fact is beyond the expectation. This means that the sequence of life course as well as the effect of 'marriage bar' or 'maternity leave' is very important in understanding women's economic activity. For instance, while women in marriage before employment delay the timing of participation in the labor market, women in marriage during first employment prolong their work until the second childbearing. So we can conclude the same variable, for example, marriage or birth influences women's entry into and exit from the labor market according to the timing of those life events, namely the sequence of life course.

In the next chapter, we also find that women's pattern of labor force participation does not change across the birth cohort. Most of all we find an interesting fact that women's total duration of employment and total numbers of employment are too low. Korean women's pattern of labor force supply is very poor picture to debate whether that pattern changes continuously or not.

In this chapter, we find that human capital variables - education, job career, duration of previous work, type of previous work and so on - do not have significant effects on the likelihood of reentry and reexit. Instead, life course variables - marriage, childbearing, existence of young children under age 6 and so on - have significant effects on the likelihood of reentry. Only the 'age' have a significant effect in women's second career interruption.
In conclusion, the pattern of women's labor force participation is still discontinuous and varies remarkably by women's life course stages. So this study calls for more sophisticated, rather than simpler, models of women's labor force behavior and policy about women's work. Because women's employment decisions are products of the complex interplay of individual, family, and social and economic changes.