Gender discrimination in the workplace and the onset of problematic alcohol use among female wage workers: A longitudinal study in Korea

Abstract

This study explored the association between workplace gender discrimination (WGD) and the onset of problematic alcohol use among female wage workers. This longitudinal study analyzed data from a nationwide sample of 4654 women, with 11,484 observations collected between 2012 and 2020. The participants reported their experiences with WGD across six dimensions: hiring practices, promotion opportunities, wage disparities, work assignments, access to training opportunities, and termination procedures. Participants were categorized into three groups based on the number of these WGD dimensions they experienced: no WGD (no experiences in any dimension), moderate WGD (experiences in 1–3 dimensions), and severe WGD (experiences in 4–6 dimensions). Problematic alcohol use was evaluated using the Cutting Down, Annoyance by Criticism, Guilty Feeling, and Eye-openers questionnaire. Generalized estimating equations were utilized to assess the relationship between the experience of WGD and the development of problematic alcohol use over a two-year period. The relative risk (RR) and its 95 % confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Among the participants, 68.8 %, 18.0 %, and 13.2 % experienced no, moderate, and severe WGD at the baseline, respectively. Compared with no experience of WGD, the RRs (95 % CI) for the onset of problematic alcohol use were 0.93 (0.50–1.71) and 2.08 (1.23–3.50) for moderate and severe WGD experience, respectively. For each WGD dimension, WGD related to promotion (RR: 1.66, 95 % CI: 1.01–2.72), wages (RR: 1.71, 95 % CI: 1.05–2.78), and termination (RR: 1.88, 95 % CI: 1.13–3.13) were related to the development of problematic alcohol use during the follow-up. WGD was associated with the onset of problematic alcohol use during the follow-up period. These findings underscore the necessity of proactive governmental and organizational initiatives to promote a gender-equitable work environment and mitigate WGD to protect women's health.