The Feminization of Poverty in Korea

Dr. Seungsook Moon suggested that Korean women's employment insecurity is linked to “the feminization of poverty in Korea", especially in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In her article The Rise of Women in Korea: Gains and Obstacles (Insight into Korea, Herald Media 2007), the Vassar College academic said that at the top of women's "sexual hierarchy" in Korea are "married women who have a sexual relationship with one man (their husbands), and thereby enjoy social respectability and receive economic and sexual protection."

"For example, wives can gain access to a range of economic resources tied to their husbands' employment, including family allowance, national pension, national medical insurance, veteran's welfare, and housing."

"Wives as respectable women tend to receive better responses form the courts and the mass media ... when they fall victim to sexual violence committed by other men. But ironically, wives are often ignored when they become victims of sexual violence committed by their own husbands."

At the "second tier of the sexual hierarchy" are "unmarried women who have sexual relationships with men outside the institution of marriage. This group of women is stereotypically perceived to be either loose or selfish."

At the bottom of the hierarchy are "prostitutes who have commercial sexual relationships with multiple men." They are regarded with social disdain and receive little protection, particularly from sexual violence.

Even so, prostitutes are categorized according to the type of customers they cater to. Those who serve Korean men reportedly stood above those who serve foreign customers.

"Lesbian women are largely invisible in the sexual hierarchy of women and occupy an ambiguous position. Like prostitutes, they are deeply stigmatized and receive little economic or physical protection."

Moon noted that despite the faster increase in the level of women's education as compared to men's, an absolute majority of women are employed in insecure and poorly-paid positions that do not allow them to support themselves, let alone their families.

Women with higher education too had not fared very well. For example, in 2003, women's average monthly wages remained at 63 per cent of men's.

"Although educated men's employment conditions have deteriorated because of outsourcing, temporary employment, underemployment, and unemployment, this economic downward spiral has lowered the quality of women's employment more rapidly than men's. The gender difference reveals that women are still considered a secondary work force in the labor market regardless of their educational achievement."