Context and Validation of the Korean Subjective Underemployment Scale (K-SUS): 한국의 불완전 취업 실태 및 주관적인 불완전 취업 척도 타당화

Abstract

Underemployment is a multidimensional construct that captures various suboptimal work statuses. Although recent economic depressions and insecure job markets in Korea have increased underemployment, no appropriate scale exists to measure underemployment in a Korean context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to translate the Subjective Underemployment Scales (SUS) into Korean and validate the Korean SUS (K-SUS) with a sample of 427 Korean employees. We found that a bifactor model fit the data best, suggesting a different internal structure from the English version. Scores from the K-SUS were also invariant across gender, age, income, and employment status. In addition, we found evidence for construct validity by relating scores from the K-SUS to similar constructs and indicators of well-being. Findings from the current study help describe Korean employees’ experiences of subjective underemployment and suggest how psychologists, employers, and policy makers can address structural and psychological issues related to underemployment.

Context and Validation of the Subjective Underemployment Scale Among Turkish Employees

“…These rates seem lower than the average of OECD countries (16.97-16.70) for the same period of time. However, similar to Korea (Kim & Allan, 2020) hours-based underemployment most probably has been experienced differently by Turkish employees due to the prevalence of long working hours. More specifically, employees in Turkey work longer hours (weekly 45.4 h) in comparison with European countries (weekly 37.0 h) and the United States (weekly 34.4 h; European Statistics, 2020).…”

“…As a result of dismissal policies regarding establishments with less than 30 employees, temporary workers are forced to accept lower wages to survive their life which leads to the intersection between temporary work and underpayment. Thus, Turkish subjective underemployment as in Korea (Kim & Allan, 2020) could be placed at the intersection of multiple underemployment domains.…”