Platform Labor Also Shows Clear 'Gender Occupational Segregation'... Gender Income Gap at 21.3%

Average Monthly Net Income: Men 1.69 Million KRW, Women 1.33 Million KRW
Higher Proportion of Women in Household Cleaning and Care Work with Lower Income

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The gender income gap among web-based platform workers was found to be 21.3%, which is twice the level of wage workers. A clear gender-based occupational segregation is also observed in platform labor.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family held the "10th Expert Meeting on Women's Employment Status Analysis and Policy Task Discovery" at the Government Seoul Office and announced the results of the survey on women's participation in platform labor.

According to a survey conducted by Kwon Hyeja, a research fellow at the Korea Employment Information Service, targeting 1,023 web-based platform workers from September to October last year, the average monthly net income (average monthly after-tax net income) of web-based platform workers was 1.69 million KRW for men and 1.33 million KRW for women. Web-based platform workers refer to those who provide labor in fields such as design, marketing, translation, and information and communication technology (IT) development.

The gender income gap in web-based platform jobs reached 21.3%. The average age of web-based platform workers is 34 years old. This gender income gap in web-based platform jobs is considerably higher compared to the gender wage gap of 11.4% among all wage workers aged 30 to 34.

According to the Korea Employment Information Service's "2021 Survey on the Size and Working Conditions of Platform Workers," approximately 2.2 million people provide labor through platforms. Among them, the proportion of female workers was 46.5%.

Additionally, both male and female web-based platform workers face difficulties such as working additional hours without pay. The proportion of long working hours was high in digital content occupations such as webtoons and web novels. Many workers also experienced difficulties such as forced contract or registration termination.

Among digital content workers, 47.0% reported working 22 or more days per month on average, and 38.1% said they work more than 45 hours per week. Respondents who reported working over 70 hours per week accounted for 17%.

A clear gender-based occupational segregation phenomenon was also observed in platform labor. The proportion of female workers was high in the "housekeeping, cleaning, and caregiving" fields.

According to a survey conducted by Kim Jongjin, senior research fellow at the Korea Labor and Society Institute, targeting 650 region-based platform workers and 77 web-based platform workers in the Seoul area from October to November last year, the proportion of female workers in region-based platforms was highest in housekeeping and caregiving (96.5%), housekeeping and cleaning (91.8%), tutoring, lessons, and counseling (81.0%), and moving and services (52.6%). In contrast, sectors such as substitute driving (9.3%), logistics delivery (6.2%), transportation drivers (3.8%), and quick services (2.1%) had single-digit percentages.

Income in industries with a high proportion of female workers was also lower than in other industries. In housekeeping and cleaning, the income was about 1.61 million KRW, and in housekeeping and caregiving, about 1.92 million KRW, which were the lowest among region-based platform labor incomes. Compared to transportation drivers (3.77 million KRW) and logistics delivery (3.28 million KRW), it was about half. The female ratio in web-based platforms was 75.3%, with income around 2.5 million KRW.

Jeong Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, said, "With the acceleration of digital transformation after the COVID-19 pandemic, platform jobs are increasing significantly. It is necessary to respond quickly to prevent the widening of gaps in these new jobs. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will strive to ensure that women's opinions are reflected in the process of establishing a foundation for protecting the rights and interests of platform workers and will make policy efforts to resolve the difficulties faced by workers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.