More women in 50s, 60s finding part-time caretaking jobs

A job seeker takes photos of recruitment posters at job fair held in Suwon, Gyeonggi in October. [YONHAP]

Delivery men used to be a dominant force in the gig economy, but women in their 50s and 60s have marched onto online platforms to land part-time positions in caretaking and housekeeping services.

There were 2,901,000 women over the age of 60 active in the workforce last month, according to Statistics Korea’s report on Thursday. This is an increase of 189,000 people, or 7 percent, for the demographic compared to last year. A total of 346,000 new workers was added on year, which means over half, or 54.6 percent, of the newly employed were women over the age of 60.

The number of women in their 50s or older working in housekeeping or infant care has risen 40.4 percent over the last 4 years, from 445,000 in the first half of 2019 to 625,000 this year. In the case of delivery work, the number of men in their 30s and 40s, which is the primary workforce demographic, increased by a smaller margin of 34 percent, from 156,000 to 209,000, in the same time period.

There are contrasting outlooks for the caretaking sector, which includes housekeeping and infant care, and for the delivery sector, after Covid-19 social distancing regulations were lifted. The number of deliverymen in their 30s and 40s skyrocketed during the pandemic but slimmed down this year compared to last’s. On the other hand, the number of women aged 60 or older who are working as caretakers has increased 7.2 percent on year as of the first half of 2023.

The majority of older woman entering the labor market took part-time jobs. Among the 186,000 part-time workers added on year in August, 62.4 percent, or 116,000 workers, were women in their 60s or older.

Kang, a woman in her mid-50s, works three hours a day every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Her job consists of bringing another family’s 25-month-old child home from daycare and taking care of the child until the parents come back. She found the gig on the online mediating platform Mom-sitter.

“I had some time on my hands after my kids went to college, but it was hard to find a full-time job, not that I wanted one,” Kang said. “Because the working hours are short, a month’s wages are only 1 million won ($769). But it’s enough for pocket money,” she added.

On Mom-sitter, there were 10,000 caretakers registered in 2017 and 260,000 registered in 2019. This year, it’s 800,000. Cleaning Lab, a mediating service for cleaners and housekeepers, has 120,000 workers, referred to as “managers,” registered on the app. This is six times the number of managers who were registered in 2020, which was 20,000.

Some feel that the rise in numbers is influenced by the older population’s increasing ability to access online platforms. As people now in their 50s are tech-savvy in the use of smartphone apps, it's become easier for older population to access online labor platforms. Such jobs, which are mostly part-time, are especially preferred due to the older population’s general characteristic of not being able to work long hours.

“Over 70 percent of the registered managers are women in their 50s and 60s,” said a Cleaning Lab insider. “As signing up and matching is done through the app, we see the platform’s better accessibility to have influenced the rise in new members.”

Another reason is the growing older population and the increase in demand for caretaking services with the rise in dual income families. Due to high demand, employees can work at preferred times without delay.

“Although the number of newborns has reduced, the demand for caretaking laborers has increased as most families are now made up of dual income parents, and with the growing older population, [demand for] nursing assistants is also steadily increasing,” said Kim Si-dong, labor policy section chief at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. “As a result, the number of employees in the caretaking, housekeeping and welfare sectors is rapidly increasing,” Kim added.

Job growth among older women is expected to continue. This is because more and more older people are taking online platform jobs and also because there are more in the workforce in general. Some point out that the public opinion of part-time jobs, such as labor found through online platforms, should also keep up with the times.

“The distinction that full-time employment jobs are good and part-time jobs are bad is outdated,” said Kim Dae-jong, business professor at Sejong University. “In developed countries including the United States and Germany, part-time jobs are supported as a [legitimate] form of work. They are an essential form of employment that encourages older people and women to join the labor market, especially in a time of a shrinking productive population.”

BY JEONG JIN-HO, KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.lkr