No Sick Days for Freelancers: Depression Levels Much Higher Than Average

37.7% of freelancers experience depression
Primarily due to a lack of job autonomy

Reports indicate that freelancers experience higher levels of depression than the general population.

 

According to an exclusive report by Hankyoreh on the 23rd, a labor survey including health issues conducted by the Union Center and Working Citizens Research Institute on 512 freelancers and platform workers revealed that their depression index is more than triple that of the general population.

The results of the depression symptom scale (CES-D) survey, using 11 items used in the Korean Welfare Panel survey and others by the research institute. It showed that the depression index for these occupations is 18.54 points.

This is 3.3 times the average value of 5.53 from the 2022 Korean Welfare Panel survey.

The analysis showed that 37.7% of freelancers are classified as having depression, with the risk group recommended to visit a hospital reaching 30.7%. 12.9% were classified as needing stress management.

Design/web development and food delivery/errands, delivery/quick/driver proxy, were identified as the jobs with the highest levels of depression. A web designer with 8 years of experience, Mr. A, told the media, “There’s no standard for work-life balance, and the anxiety about income is high, so I think I had high levels of depression when I was first adapting.”

Those classified with depression felt a lack of job autonomy (51.1% depression rate). At the same time, some had experienced income interruption for more than three months (48.3%), and others. The media reported that the rate was higher for those who had to work long hours of more than 52 hours a week and had no one to share work-related grievances with.

Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents (54.9%) reported working even when sick in the past year.

The average number of days off for treatment in the past year was 5.6, with more than half (54.1%) reporting that they did not take a single day off. The reasons included financial problems due to loss of income (43.4%). Lastly, no one can substitute for their work (24.6%).