Colloquium in Feb. 2022
Kim, Joeun (Professor, KDI School of Public Policy and Management, South Korea)
The purpose of this study is to examine whether and how job demands, as measured through distinct combinations of work hours and work schedules, are associated with young people’s marital intentions in Korea, a country with a highly demanding and rigid work environment.
Work-family scholars argue that demanding work might depress young singles’ intentions to marry by heightening their fears about potential work-family incompatibility, particularly among women and professionals. Some popular press, on the other hand, suggests that singles with demanding job avoid marriage simply because they are exhausted. There is a dearth of research that examines the direct association between job demands and marital intentions, as well as possible mechanisms.
This study used a nationally representative sample of recent college graduates in Korea (N = 36,518). To begin, this study employs a latent class analysis to identify work time patterns among recent college graduates. Then, this study examines the association between work time and marital intentions using multinomial logistic regression.
Five distinct work patterns were identified: standard hour, part-time, six- to seven-day workweeks, frequent off-day work, and excessive overtime. Overworking groups, including ‘frequent off-day work’ and ‘excessive overtime,’ were more likely to express intentions to forgo marriage than those who work standard hours. The association between overwork and negative marital intentions was not stronger among women and professionals, providing limited support for the perceived work-family conflict hypotheses. However, the mediation analysis showed that nearly 90% of the association between overwork and negative marital intentions were explained by feelings of exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and poor self-rated health.
The findings of this study provide limited support for the perceived work-family conflict hypotheses to understand the association between job demands and marital intentions in Korean context.
♣ Please let us apologize for not uploading the photos for this virtual colloquium.
