Department of Advanced Industry Fusion, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-701, Korea.
Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, 370 Sicheong-daero, Sejong-si 30147, Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jul 17;16(14):2553. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16142553.
Korea is facing problems, such as inequality within society and an aging population, that places a burden on public health expenditure. The active adoption of policies that promote work-family balance (WFB), such as parental leave and workplace childcare centers, is known to help solve these problems. However, there has, as yet, been little quantitative evidence accumulated to support this notion. This study used the choice experiment methodology on 373 Koreans in their twenties and thirties, to estimate the level of utility derived from work-family balance policies. The results show that willingness to pay for parental leave was found to be valued at 7.81 million Korean won, while it was 4.83 million won for workplace childcare centers. In particular, WFB policies were found to benefit workers of lower socioeconomic status or belonging to disadvantaged groups, such as women, those with low education levels, and those with low incomes. Furthermore, the utility derived from WFB policies was found to be greater among those who desire children compared to those who do not. The results suggest that the proactive introduction of WFB policies will help solve problems such as inequality within society and population aging.
韩国面临着一些问题，如社会不平等和人口老龄化，这些问题给公共卫生支出带来了负担。积极采取促进工作-家庭平衡（WFB）的政策，如育儿假和工作场所儿童保育中心，被认为有助于解决这些问题。然而，目前还没有多少定量证据支持这一观点。本研究使用选择实验方法对 373 名 20 多岁和 30 多岁的韩国人进行了调查，以估计工作-家庭平衡政策带来的效用水平。结果表明，愿意为育儿假支付的费用被认为价值 781 万韩元，而工作场所儿童保育中心的费用为 483 万韩元。特别是，WFB 政策对社会经济地位较低或属于弱势群体的工人有利，如女性、教育水平较低者和收入较低者。此外，与不想要孩子的人相比，想要孩子的人从 WFB 政策中获得的效用更大。研究结果表明，积极推行 WFB 政策将有助于解决社会不平等和人口老龄化等问题。
