Miyoung Gu Associate Research Fellow Korean Women ’ s Development Institute ( ) Can Unemployment Insurance Protect Women from Poverty?

Question : Is Social Security Law Gender-neutral?

The only social security system providing protection to the unemployed Financial resource of Parental leave allowances and maternity leave allowances in Korea belongs to UI. Constant trends of expanding UI coverage after 1997 Asian financial crisis. Few previous research on Korean UI’s gender impacts Outline of Unemployment Insurance(UI) in S. Korea

UI Entitlement coverage expanded - coverage has been growing In 2004, subscription rate was 50.9% (58% for men and 41% for women) In 2014, 68.8% among wage earners/ men 74.1%, women 61.9% (Yoo, 2014). - a broad blind area still exists: 12% difference (KOSTAT, 2014). Gender Gaps in UI Scheme

1. Gender impacts resulted from exclusion clause 1) economically dependant workers (dependant workers) :at least 3% of all wage earners : Women make up 64.2% of economically dependent workers (Kim, 2014) Female-dominant economically dependent workers: Golf caddies, home-study teachers, after-school program teachers. - Cause of Gender Differentials

1. Gender impacts affected by exclusion clause 2) part-time workers working for less than 15 hours per week ( " less than 15 hour workers ” ") : statistics on less than 15 hour part-time workers are not released yet : 1,200,000 people (approximately 6% of wage earners) : typically female-centered employment relationship 72% of part-time workers are women( Kim, 2014) : subscription rate among part-time workers is only 17.6% : Law manipulation situations related to part-time workers Cause of Gender Differentials

1. Gender impacts affected by exclusion clause 3) Exclusion of domestic workers 0.44% of wage earners(Seo, 2014) 99% of domestic workers are women UI law excluding "employees in domestic service area" => Controversies over Long-term care worker's entitlement to UI(2009) Cause of Gender Differentials

2. Vulnerability of female employment The subscription rate varying by workplace size (Yoo, 2014) : 49.7% in workplace with less than 10 workers : 81.7% in workplace with 10 – 29 workers is : 90% or over in workplace with more than 30 workers is (2013). The subscription rate varying by employment relationship type : non-regular workers ’ subscription rate is 81.5%; that of non-regular workers is 44.0%(Lee, 2014) a actual blind area of uninsured workers still exists, which accounts for 21% of total wage earners (Yoo, 2014). Cause of Gender Differentials

2. Vulnerability of female employment - serious issue of women ’ s career discontinuity("M curve") - 37% of women are micro enterprise workers (25% of men) % of all non-regular worke r s are women (GSIS, 2014).  de facto disparity with regard to accessibility to UI, “ substantive blind area ” Cause of Gender Differentials

Women's economic activity rate: M- Curve (Kim, 2014)

1. Review the necessity of exclusion clause 1) wider coverage is needed: from employee to workers - limits of Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act should be critically considered. 2) part-time workers working less than 15 hours and domestic workers should be included Improvement Direction

1. UI Policy for vulnerable groups needed 1) Encouraging the vulnerable workers to subscribe to UI - Duru Nuri, Korean supporting plan for social insurance fees - 70% of the Duru Nuri recipients is women - vulnerable groups-specific policy needed: case of janitors 2) Introducing "substantive equal access" provision to UI law - legislation as a ground of policy making and budgeting 2. Long-term suggestion: introducing an unemployment allowance system Improvement Direction

Current UI system cannot fully reflect women’s vulnerable situation: non-regular employment, micro enterprise workers, burden of work-life balance on women Policy considering the vulnerable workers’ difficulty with accessing to UI is still important. - Limits of this presentation: Focused on Eligibility Requirements. Conclusion

Thank You!