Economic Insecurity and Gendered Social Policy Attitudes: Evidence from South Korea

• In Event: Exploitation, Gender, and Social Policies

Abstract

Technology-driven economic changes, such as the introduction of robots and artificial intelligence, produce 'losers' in the labor market. Studies have shown that vulnerabilities in the labor market lead to a demand for social protection (e.g., expanding unemployment benefits) or redistribution against economic loss. Although the disruptive consequences such as job loss are unevenly distributed by gender, less is known about how gender identity affects policy support for compensating losers from global economic transformations. To fill this gap, we develop a theory that explains how gender inequality in the labor market results in gendered social policy preferences against economic hardships brought on by automation. Our research focuses on the case of South Korea, where the economy is highly exposed to automation and faces the highest gender inequality among OECD countries. First, we argue that the positive relationship between economic insecurity in the labor market and demand for social protection is less salient among women. This is because they are less likely to experience and perceive status loss driven by technology-driven economic change due to their lower socioeconomic status in the first place. Second, owing to gender bias that devalues women's labor in the economy, we contend that women are penalized, resulting in lower support for compensation when 'victims' of automation are female. We test our theory using the Korean General Social Survey data and an original survey experiment. By explaining how women and men respond to automation differently, this study sheds light on the importance of gender perspective for understanding political preferences addressing socioeconomic challenges produced by macroeconomic transformations.

Authors

• Jaewook Lee, Leiden University

• Soohyun Cho, Bowdoin College