Determinants of Employment, Earned Income, and Job Satisfaction among Older Adults by Gender

In Korea, the number of older workers has been increasing due to the rapid aging of the population. However, research addressing the employment issue of older adults is relatively lacking. This study examined the factors that determine the labor market participation, income level, and job satisfaction among individuals who aged 60 and older, focusing on person-related, family-related and job-related characteristics. This study analyzed data on the respondents who aged 60 and over from the 2020 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) dataset of the Korea Employment Information Service. The Heckman’s sample selection model was applied in the analyses which included data on both labor market participants and non-participants. Data analysis was first conducted on the entire sample, and then data separated by gender were also analyzed. The results showed that the factors determining the older adult’s employment were personal characteristics such as gender, age, subjective health status and so on, as well as household characteristics such as the number of children, cohabitation with children, household net assets and so on. The level of earned income and job satisfaction of the workers were influenced not only by person- or family-related characteristics, but also by job-related characteristics such as occupational type and job status. Moreover, the findings showed that the factors influencing the employment status, earned income level, and job satisfaction of older adults differed by gender. For example, the female older workers tended to have lower incomes, lower job satisfaction, and a lower proportion of full-time workers than the male workers. The discussion raised the need to create high-quality jobs tailored to the individual characteristics of the older workers based on the findings. It was also pointed out that there is a need for stable jobs for older women, who are in worse working conditions than men.