Who is the most precarious among the nonstandard workers? A comparative study of unmet medical needs among standard workers and subtypes of nonstandard workers

Abstract

Objective: Nonstandard workers might have a relatively higher risk of unmet medical needs than standard workers. This study subdivided nonstandard workers to investigate the effects of nonstandard employment on unmet medical needs. Methods: We used the Korea Health Panel 2011–2018 data. The independent variable, employment contract, was defined using the nonstandard form described by the ILO: Temporary workers, Part-time workers, and Temporary agent workers. The analytical method used in this study was a panel logit model that accounted for repeated measured participants. By controlling for time-invariant individual-fixed effects, we investigate the relationship between subdivided nonstandard work and the risk of unmet medical needs with reference to standard work. Results: The results of the analysis clearly showed that compared with standard workers, temporary agency workers had a significantly higher risk of unmet medical needs (Odds ratio = 1.182, 95% CI = 1.016–1.374). The main cause of this phenomenon was economic reasons in this group. Conclusions: This study found that temporary agency workers in the general Korean population have a significantly higher risk of unmet healthcare needs. The result of this study implies that financial hardship might be a fundamental health hazard among workers with nonstandard employment.