Status Inconsistency, Gender, and Health in Korean Young Adults: Separating Educational and Skill Mismatch

Since the expansion of tertiary education and the rise in the educational level of the population in developed countries, there have been inconsistencies in their social standings, especially in young people. This study examines the relationship between status inconsistency and self-rated health in young adulthood. In defining status inconsistency, this study distinguishes between educational and skill mismatch. Moreover, given gendered workplace experiences, potential gender heterogeneity in the relationship is examined. Using nationally representative data from the Youth Panel (N = 2,407), fixed effect (FE) models are estimated to account for individual-level heterogeneity. FE estimates suggest that overeducation and over-skilling are negatively associated with self-rated health even after controlling time-constant, unobserved individual heterogeneity. Gender-stratified analyses reveal that overeducation is only associated with a decrease in self-rated health among women, while over-skilling is only associated with a decrease in self-rated health among men. Efforts to narrow the gap between educational or skill level and workplace utilization will benefit the health of young adults.