Health inequality and self-employment in South Korea

Abstract Background Self-employed persons work for themselves as owners of a business rather than for an employer. Although self-employed persons have autonomy and flexibility, they are vulnerable to workplace health and safety hazards. However, there has been little interest in the health of self-employed persons, especially in small business owners. This study investigated the health status of small self-employed business owners compared to standard workers. Methods The third Korean Working Conditions Survey for a total of 32,630 workers aged 20-59 were analyzed. A small business was defined as self-employment with 0-4 workers. Standard employment included full-time employment with a permanent or one-year contract. Health outcomes included the presence of depressive symptom and 8 types of physical health; hearing problems, skin problems, backache, muscular pains (upper limbs), muscular pains (lower limbs), headaches/eye strain, injuries, and overall fatigue. Results Among 32,630 workers, 10,652 (32.64%) were small business self-employed. Compared with standard employed workers, small business self-employed had a 1.2-fold [adjusted OR (Odds Ratio) =1.20, 95%CI (Confidence Interval) 1.09-1.32] increased likelihood for depression after adjustment for potential covariates. Small business self-employed was at higher risk of work-related physical health problems: backache (OR = 1.16, 95%CI 1.06-1.26), muscular pains in upper limbs (OR = 1.19, 95%CI 1.12-1.27), and muscular pains in lower limbs (OR = 1.14, 95%CI 1.07-1.22). Conclusions Our study found health inequality of small business self-employed, showing higher odds for mental and physical health problems in small business self-employed than in standardly employed workers. Key messages The current study showed vulnerability of self-employed in small business to health problems. Our study would be helpful to build up better working environment for small business owners and improve occupational health inequalities in South Korea.

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The influence of gender and ethnicity on the perceptions of an Entrepreneurial career in the South African context

The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management ◽

10.4102/sajesbm.v5i1.24 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shelley Farrington ◽

Beverley Gray ◽

Gary Sharp

Keyword(s):

Small Business ◽

Ethnic Groups ◽

Work Values ◽

Business Owners ◽

Primary Objective ◽

Entrepreneurial Activity ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Validity And Reliability ◽

South Africans ◽

Self Employment

In South Africa men are more likely than women to undertake entrepreneurial activity. Similarly, White South Africans are more likely to start new business ventures than other ethnic groups. In order to establish why women and certain ethnic groups are less inclined to undertake entrepreneurial activities, the primary objective of this study was to establish whether the perceptions of desirability that some groups have of an entrepreneurial career differ from those of others. Respondents were identified by means of convenience and judgemental sampling. In total, 739 usable questionnaires were returned. The validity and reliability of the measuring instrument was assessed by means of an exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach-alpha coefficients. T-test statistics were undertaken to establish significant differences. The results show that female small business owners perceive that self-employment will allow them more Flexibility and Autonomy than do their male counterparts, whereas male students perceive that self-employment will allow them more Time than do female students. Black small business owners and Black student respondents scored higher mean scores than White respondents for the majority of work values investigated in this study. This seems to suggest that Black respondents perceive an entrepreneurial career more positively than White respondents do, despite White South Africans being more likely to start entrepreneurial ventures than Black South Africans.KEYWORDS: Entrepreneurial career, small business enterprises, career perceptions, work values, gender, ethnicity

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Self-employment: is it a long-term financial strategy for women?

Equality Diversity and Inclusion An International Journal ◽

10.1108/edi-10-2016-0078 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 362-375 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Janice Redmond ◽

Elizabeth Anne Walker ◽

Jacquie Hutchinson

Keyword(s):

Small Business ◽

Homeless People ◽

Business Owners ◽

Work And Family ◽

Small Business Owners ◽

Retirement Savings ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Content Type ◽

Self Employment ◽

On Line

Purpose Becoming self-employed has appeal to both genders. For many women, balancing work and family is a key motivator. However, businesses owned and operated by women are often very small, with limited turnover. This potentially can have disastrous consequences when these women come to retire, unless a solid retirement savings strategy has been considered. The purpose of this paper is to outline many of the issues and implications of a lack of research in this area. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 201 small business owners via a convenience sample derived from various databases. The survey was completed on-line and analysed using SPSS. Findings Many self-employed women in Australia have neither enough savings for their retirement, or an actual retirement plan. This is exacerbated by the lack of regulation requiring mandatory contributions into a superannuation (personal pension) fund by small business owners, unlike pay as you go employees, whose employers must contribute a certain about on their behalf. Social implications Middle-to-older aged women are the biggest cohort of homeless people in Australia. This is likely to grow as self-employed Baby Boomers stop working and find they do not have sufficient personal financial resources to fund their retirement. Originality/value Whereas there is much written about gender and small business ownership, as well as retirement and savings planning, these two areas have not been researched before in Australia. Yet it is an issue for the majority of small business owners, particularly women.

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