Research Reports
A Study on Strategy for Job Creation in Rural Areas
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AuthorSong, Miryung
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Publication Date2013.02.28
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Original
Employment-related policies are the most important pending issue in Korea, and the central government and local governments are making much effort to tackle the issue with great interest. Rural towns are also far more sensitive to the employment issue than cities, not only in the sense that jobs in rural areas provide opportunities for local residents to earn income, but in the sense that they are the backbone of local industries and communities.
This study aims to identify the pending problems of employment in rural areas by examining its current situation and characteristics and draw policy implications by analyzing the cases of jobs created nationwide and discussed for being meaningful.
In 2010, the number of employed people in rural areas was 4.82 million, which accounted for 24.7 percent of the total number of jobs in Korea. From 2000 to 2010, the total number of jobs increased by 2 percent from 16.01 million to 19.49 million. During the same period, the number of jobs in rural areas increased by 0.32% on average annually. But in the districts of `myeon', the number decreased by 0.52%.
Jobs in rural areas decreased in the agricultural sector but increased in non-agricultural sectors. Even in non-agricultural sectors, jobs increased mainly in manufacturing and social service sectors such as health, medical, and welfare services. But the number of jobs that are closely related with the local economy associated with the daily life of local residents decreased.
By economic sector, the largest number of jobs in rural areas in 2010 was employed in the tertiary sector (36.9%), followed by the primary sector (32.8%) and the secondary sector (30.3%). If the current trends continue, it is expected that in 2020 the manufacturing sector will top the rank and account for the largest number of jobs in rural areas, and that jobs will grow in the fields of services, health and social welfare, and lifelong learning.
In comparison to jobs in cities, jobs in rural areas have a characteristic that shows higher ratios of ‘unpaid family workers’ and ‘small self-employed people without hired workers.’ The ratio of rural-to-urban household income is deteriorating each year and in non-agricultural sectors, too, there is a significant income gap between urban and rural residents. The policy outcome in rural areas in regard to social enterprises, too, is not as high as in cities.
A total of 78 successful cases of job creation were collected on the recommendation of eight city and provincial research institutes and were classified into four categories based on their contents. In the category of `sixth industrialization of agriculture,' which refers to synergizing of first, second and third industrial sectors, the successful cases were, among others, an apple wine company in Yesan that has diversified its business into processing, retailing and tourism and community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs in Hongcheon and Hoengseong. In the category of `new regional industrialization based on rural resources', the successful cases were `Dongbaek village' in Jeju, `Cheese village' in Imsil, `Baekdam village' in Yongdaeri, Inje, and others that have created jobs based on tangible and intangible local resources such as landscape and cultural heritage. In the category of `social services,' Yu-Eun Welfare Foundation in Andong and Sae-byeok Agricultural Cooperative in Namwon were selected for analysis as they have created social service jobs for the benefit of the public and the vulnerable people from the standpoint of productive welfare. Also, the jobs that were created to correct the imbalance of labor supply were analyzed. In addition, cases of job creation in the broad sense of rural jobs were classified into a separate category for analysis.
According to the analysis results, most of the rural jobs that were successfully created belong to the agriculture-based `sixth industrialization' and `social service' categories. The support from the central government or local governments laid the foundation for job creation and its outcome was most positive when the operation system was built in the shape of a village organization or a single business entity based on the voluntary effort of local residents. In other words, the sustainability of jobs is guaranteed when the quality of goods and services they render can secure competitiveness in the market, and the social service-type jobs that have the public-benefit function require the support that can continuously lessen the operating cost.
Rural jobs are a prerequisite to maintaining the local industry and society. Quality jobs that provide business continuity and cater to the needs of local residents and that are market-oriented should be created. Every effort should be made to maintain current jobs by improving weaknesses of employment-friendly industries such as agriculture, forestry, and agro-industrial complexes. The periods of policy projects should be extended and various types of intermediate support organizations should be fostered to create stable jobs. Fiscal spending on the public service sector should be made to connect with job creation and, above all, support should be provided so that social services that are essential to maintaining a rural society can be competitive in the market.
Researchers: Mi-ryung Song and Ja-hye Min
Research period: 2012.9 - 2013.2
E-mail address: mrsong@krei.re.kr
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