Women's precariousness in the labor market: a comparison between South Korea and France.

Summary More female employment, but of what quality? Using South Korean longitudinal data on labor and income from 1998 to 2008, and French longitudinal data from the European Household Panel from 1994 to 2001, a multiple correspondence analysis compares women's job insecurity in South Korea and France. It shows that the reconciliation of family and work conditions the fate of women on the labor market. A multilevel discrete-time duration model is used to test the determinants of mobility between types of precariousness, and to highlight the important effect of education and family responsibilities. A Markov chain model is used to calculate asymptotic prevalences. The Gini indexes associated with these prevalences at the time show a more egalitarian situation than that inherited from the past. The comparison between South Korea and France provides evidence that the determinants of female employment condition mobility between types of occupational precariousness, with variations from one country to another. In both countries, a degree and work experience are a means of escaping precariousness. Family load does not determine the variation in job insecurity of South Korean women as it does in France, even though it is one of the major characteristics of the insecurity of South Korean mothers. The continued participation of women in both countries in the paid labor market does not guarantee an improvement in precariousness. The mobility observed in 1998-2008 suggests an improvement in the lot of women in the labor market.