The Role of Social and Financial Supports on the Employment of People with Disabilities in Korea: A Moderated Mediation of Household Type

Background: Individuals with disabilities are more likely to be in the job market as they face both personal (e.g., dependence and the severity of their disability) and societal barriers (e.g., low family expectations and stigma). The level of dependence is known to have a negative relationship with employment. The type of household (i.e., single household versus a family of two or more) further can moderate these relationships, with different family structures providing varying levels of support and resources. In this context, the current study aims to explore the mediating roles of social and financial support in the relationship between the level of dependence and employment and to examine the moderating effect of household type.

Methods: The fourth wave (2021) data from the ‘Life of the People with Disability: A Panel Study’ were used for the analysis. Of the total study sample of 5,024 participants, the final sample included in the mediation and moderated mediation analyses was 2,665 Korean people with disabilities. The research model consisted of the level of dependence as an independent variable, employment as the outcome, informal social support and financial support as mediators, household type (i.e., single household, family with two or more) as a moderator, and gender, age, severity of disability, and level of education as covariates. All statistical analyses were completed using SPSS 25.0 and Process Macro 4.3.

Results: The findings revealed that while the level of dependence (B = -.200) and financial support (B = -.084) were negatively associated with employment, informal social support (B = .383) was positively associated with employment. Although the mediation effects of informal social support (B = .007) and financial support (B = -.006) were statistically significant, the indirect effect of financial support was significant for the family with two or more (B = -.029), and the indirect effect of informal social support was significant for the single household (B = .006). In the moderated mediation analysis, the results indicated that the associations between the level of dependence and employment (B = .254) and the financial support and employment (B = -.413) were moderated by household type. In other words, employment was higher in the family with two or more members when the level of dependence was low but became lower as the level of dependence increased. Further, employment was higher in the single household when the financial support was low but became lower as the financial assistance increased. The moderated mediation of household type was statistically significant for the association between the level of dependence and employment through financial support (B = -.027).

Conclusion/Implications: The present study found significant yet different mediating effects of informal social support and financial support on employment, along with the interaction effect of household type on employment. Based on these findings, we suggest providing one-on-one employment services for the single household, implementing a monitoring system that allows for ongoing employment support, and developing a specialized networking program to assist the single household with disabilities in building and maintaining connections in the community.