Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Job insecurity, such as non-standard work, is reported to have an adverse impact on health, regardless of health behaviors. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between non-standard employment and health in Korea. METHODS: We analyzed a representative weighted sample, which consisted of 2, 112 men and 1, 237 women, aged 15-64, from the 1998 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Non-standard employment included part-time permanent, short time temporary and daily workers. Self-reported health was used as a health indicator. RESULTS: This study indicated that women were more likely to report poorer health than men with standard jobs. Of all employees, 20.3% were female manual workers. After adjusting for potential confounders, such as age, education, equivalent income, marital, social and selfreported economic status and health behavior factors, nonstandard employment was found to be significantly associated with poor health among female manual workers (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.24 to 2.79). No significant association was found in other working groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among female manual workers, nonstandard employees reported significantly poorer health compared with standard workers. This result raises concern as there are increasing numbers of non-standard workers, particularly females.

• Keywords: Non-standard employmentJob insecuritySelf-reported Health