A Study on the Paradigm Shift in Korean Social Security according to the precarization of work

Abstract

This study diagnoses some problems faced by the Korean social security system over the past 20 years (2000-2020), and suggests the following policy measures necessary to establish an alternative social security paradigm. First, due to the diversification of employment patterns, Korea's social security system has to solve three problems: 1) addressing the economic and social gap caused by the dual structure of labor market and social security, 2) establishing an income-based social insurance system based on the increase in 'hybrid employment' under the digital economy, and 3) establishing a fast and transparent social security infrastructure to cope with the economic and social risks that have been exacerbated by COVID-19. Second, Korean society is in a situation where employment policies and social security policies should be reorganized to support a new and growing social class suffering from job insecurity called precariat, due to the diversification of employment patterns. In particular, there are concerns about the sustainability of social insurance, so the tax and administrative system should be reorganized so that all workers can be recruited as into social insurance and social security systems. Third, the size of precariat in Korea can be estimated according to various criteria, and if the definition of Guy Standing is adopted, 43.8% of the people aged 20 to 69 are estimated to be precariats. Of course, this is also the result of reflecting standards (e.g., representation through labor unions) that are difficult for many Korean workers to meet. In addition, according to the survey data on the working conditions by employment type, 46.1% of wage earners are estimated to be precariats. Fourth, in order to resolve the dual structure of the labor market and social security, the Korean government should hurry to establish a universal social security system based on social consensus on the following two policy tasks. The study proposes establishing an income-based universal social insurance system and introducing social security tax as a policy task for establishing a universal social security system.