근로시간이 줄면 삶의 질은 좋아질까: 직무만족도의 조절된 매개효과 분석

This study looked into the effects of working hours on the life satisfaction of married wage earners and examined mediation in job satisfaction. It also considered whether the size of the mediations would vary due to gender and employment patterns (permanent or temporary). This study used the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), which is longitudinal data. Data from 1998 to 2015 was remodeled from the first year to the third year of employment based on the employment status. Based on the result of testing the longitudinal mediation effects using the auto-regressive model, the direct effects of working hours on life satisfaction were insignificant; however, they were longitudinally significant through job satisfaction. There were no differences in gender and employment patterns between these longitudinal mediation effects. This study is meaningful because the empirical data shows that the reduction of working hours does not appear to directly increase the quality of life and only improves when a reduction of working hours leads to an increase in job satisfaction. If the reduction of working hours leads to a deterioration in working conditions such as the work-environment, working hours, the welfare system, among others, the quality of life reduces.