Association of precarious employment with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among female workers: Findings from a nationwide longitudinal study in Korea

Background: In this study, we examined the relationship of precarious employment (PE) with depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among Korean women. Methods: We included a nationwide sample of 4162 women drawn from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Women and Families, comprising 7566 observations. PE was assessed using three dimensions: employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and lack of rights and protection. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate the association between each element of PE and the depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation over a two-year follow-up period, represented as odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs). Results: The overall prevalence rates of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation were 11.8 % and 1.9 %, respectively. Compared with permanent employment, fixed-term employment (OR [95 % CI]:1.29 [1.00–1.67]) or daily employment (OR [95 % CI]:1.53 [1.26–1.99]) was associated with the depressive symptoms at the follow-up. Additionally, lack of social benefits (OR [95 % CI]:1.40 [1.09–1.79]) and high perceived vulnerability (OR [95 % CI]:1.27 [1.08–1.49]) were associated with the depressive symptoms at the follow-up. Additionally, daily employment was associated with the suicidal ideation at the follow-up (OR [95 % CI]:1.94 [1.02–3.68]) and high perceived vulnerability was marginally associated with an increased suicidal ideation risk (OR [95 % CI]:1.49 [0.98–2.29]). Limitation: Causal effect of PE could not be asserted due to the observational nature of this study. Conclusions: PE is a social determinant of women's mental health and policy interventions are required to improve their employment conditions.