저숙련 이주노동자의 가족생활: 소득･소비･주거 및 사회생활을 중심으로

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how many low-skilled labor migrants have their spousewho also migrates to South Korea although their visa don’t allow to accompany theirfamily, what are their socio-demographic characteristics and migration experience and their life in South Korea, compared to the single migrants or married migrants whosespouse is in the country of origin. The data for this study comes from the sample surveys conducted in 2010 and 2013 with low-skilled labor migrants under Employment Permit System. The data include the questionnaire responses from the E-9 visa migrant workers of 976 in 2010 and 1,370 in 2013 and the Visit Work (H-2) visa Korean Chinese of 1,000 in 2010 and 1,064 in 2013. The low-skilled labor migrants’ life in South Koreais measured by the dimensions such as the economic life (living expenses, remittance, saving), the housing life (forms of housing, rate of living in company-sponsored housing), and the social life (difficulties of Korean life, Korean language skill, life satisfaction, social relations with native or Korea friends, etc.). This study tests whether there is any significant differences of low-skilled labor migrants’ life in South Korea depending on their marital status and their spouse’s migration status.The findings revealed that, 6-7% of the EPS(Employment Permit System) migrant workers and more than 50% of the Working Visit Korean Chinese are living with their spouse in South Korea. Migrant workers with their spouse in South Korea not only are staying longer in Korea but also have a higher proportion of their family members or relatives living in Korea than the other groups. In addition, this migrant workers with their spouse living in South Korea spend a little more to the cost of living, remitting slightly less, and saving a little more compared to the other groups, but it was not much of difference. Even couples of migrant workers living in Korea choose their housing in a way of minimizing the costs as possible. The migrant workers with their spouse living in South Korea feel less loneliness, but they are not much different from the migrantworkers with their spouse living in country of origin in experiencing difficulty in familyissues. The findings of this study seem important in showing one good example of howactively low-skilled migrant workers make use of international migration as a familystrategy.