Gender, Race, and Migrant Worker Wage Inequality in South Korea

초록

The decreasing Korean population and shrinking workforce have resulted in a surge of foreigners entering the country to address shortages in the labor and marriage markets. This has led to an increasing demand for laws and regu lations governing migrant workers in Korea as well as a growing need for research on various aspects of immigration. Using data from the 2018 National Multicultural Family Survey, this study examined the determinants of immigrant workers’ wages in Korea, focusing on married and naturalized immigrants who are long-term settlers. This study employs multivariate regression, gender-strati fied analysis, and an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the wage gap between female and male migrants. The findings indicate that individual characteristics, such as gender and country of origin, strongly influence immigrants’ wages. Regarding gender effects, factors such as education, marital status, and child-rearing status play significant roles, showing that migrants face issues similar to those of Korean workers, with women being notably disadvantaged in the labor market. These findings suggest the need to address immigra tion-related issues by considering the structural challenges in the Korean labor market such as high gender wage gaps and gendered labor market segregation.

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