Adolescents’ Part-Time Work and Its Linkage to Educational Outcomes: The Case of South Korea

This chapter sheds light on the emerging phenomenon of South Korean adolescents’ involvement in part-time work during school years. Over the last two decades, the number of adolescents employed in various part-time jobs in South Korea has increased at a rapid rate. Despite this, research on the emergence of youth part-time work in the context of South Korea remains scarce. Only a handful of studies have investigated this issue and the vast majority of these studies have been published through domestic outlets. As a result, the phenomenon is not much known to international research communities and audiences. This chapter aims to fill this gap by comprehensively reviewing the existing literature from South Korea. Specifically, we focus on the linkage between adolescents’ work experience and educational outcomes (and developmental outcomes in general). In so doing, we also compare the case of South Korea with the experiences of other economically advanced countries such as the USA and those in Western Europe in order to identify commonalities or differences with South Korean adolescents’ part-time work. In addition, to make sense of what we have learned from the existing literature, we offer a theoretical framework that can be used for research on youth part-time work. Based on this, we discuss the implications for research, policy, and practice