2022 work-life balance surveys

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to generate necessary data to understand the current state of work-life balance in Korean society. Unlike previous surveys, this study was covering various aspects of work-life balance and targeting the individuals. In order to overcome the limitations of existing studies, we covered as many diverse subjects and groups as possible. In particular, this survey has expanded the meaning of “work” by including the unemployed people, who would not care about the work-life balance research, but could consider and respond to the activities such as study, training, housework, or care, as their “work”. Our surveys were including both the employed and the unemployed, working and non-working, married and single, in a large-scale for targeting 22,000 adults aged 19 to 59 across the country for analyses in detail and by group later. By the surveys, we tried to generate the data for improving the related policies and systems. For the surveys of work and life, main areas of our investigations are: Economic activities and jobs, working hours and environment, job satisfaction, daily time usage, housework and care, leisure and rest, work-life balance, and practical use and experience of related policies. Results of the surveys showed that working hours, break times, vacations and rest should be definitely guaranteed. In addition, it was found that use of policies and workers' work-life balance were affected by the atmosphere and organizational culture of the workplace. We recognized that the work stress was shifting over to the personal life or the family life. Work-life balance seem relatively difficult to keep for the people in their 30s and 40s, who are likely to work a lot and raise children. It was emphasized that more reliable support is needed for the working caregivers, and that the environment is also important where men and women could receive equal benefits from support. Furthermore, work-life balance for women and the unemployed requires more attention than now. In particular, work-life balance becomes difficult when there are children, as the burden increases for women in the family by spending a lot of time on housework or caring. Discussions on working female caregivers must continue and, at the same time, the non-employed should be included in the work-life balance discussions even if they do not work. Furthermore, following this study, future investigations and studies should be intensively conducted to eliminate blind spots in the policy benefits such as use of parental leave by the self-employed or workers at small businesses.