When Kang Younger-hee, 58, arrived at cosmetics testing agency H in September, her voice already carried fatigue. She had come to take part in a scientific trial for a brand new serum, one thing she has executed for 10 years as a “pores and skin part-timer,” however was turned away.
“They mentioned the redness on my face disqualifies me. I suppose I’ve to get therapy and check out once more,” she mentioned. The stipend for the check was 20,000 received ($15), but she booked a dermatology appointment costing greater than that as she left the constructing.
Why persist via rejection and further bills? Kang mentioned quietly, “That is the one work I can do. I can’t afford to fail the subsequent one.”
Kang stop her job years in the past as a result of marriage and baby care. When she returned to the job market in her late 40s, she discovered the doorways shut.
Competitors was harsh, and she or he quickly grew to become what Korea calls a “career-interrupted lady.” Medical trials appeared like the one possibility. “Providing my pores and skin was the best factor,” she mentioned.
For 2 months beginning in August, the Hankook Ilbo interviewed 25 girls who take part in scientific trials for cosmetics. Most described themselves as career-interrupted, and lots of had been middle-aged. The worldwide rise of Okay-beauty depends upon an invisible spine: middle-aged girls who lend their pores and skin to analysis.
Unseen labor behind Korea’s magnificence business
A number of girls mentioned they turned to those trials after failing to search out regular work. Lee, 50, who left her job as a pc programmer twenty years in the past for baby care, mentioned she joined to “earn a minimum of grocery cash.” Min, 51, a former English teacher, mentioned she wanted “espresso cash” and a way of function.
One other lady, Kim, 44, mentioned, “I stored failing to discover a new job. My youthful baby as soon as requested jokingly, ‘Mother, why don’t you earn cash?’ Now I can say I do.”
For these girls, collaborating in beauty scientific trials grew to become a type of employment. Fee varies by check, however most earn between 20,000 and 30,000 received per session.
For somebody with no revenue, even that’s significant. One lady mentioned she participates almost weekly at a number of facilities, generally selecting extra painful or dangerous trials for barely larger pay.
Throughout 5 years, she has taken half in roughly 50 checks. “I earn lower than 200,000 received a month. If I take advantage of my face for a check, I attempt to enhance revenue by doing scalp or hair checks on the identical time,” she mentioned.
Overwhelming reliance on middle-aged girls
In keeping with information obtained by Rep. Ahn Sang-hoon of the Individuals Energy Celebration from the Ministry of Meals and Drug Security, 328,952 folks participated in beauty scientific trials from 2020 to 2024 at 19 testing establishments. Of them, 244,245 had been aged 40 or older.
Ladies accounted for 327,790 of 350,843 whole individuals throughout 21 establishments, accounting for 93.4 %. Male individuals totaled simply 23,053.
When the datasets are mixed, the conclusion is stark: Center-aged and older girls overwhelmingly dominate participation.
Website visits by the Hankook Ilbo confirmed this. At testing middle P in Seoul on the morning of Aug. 4, solely two of 36 individuals had been males. The remainder had been middle-aged girls. One participant, aged 46, mentioned whereas leaving after a session, “Many mothers in related conditions come right here.”
The heavy focus of middle-aged girls displays Korea’s persistent gender employment hole. In keeping with the 2023 Ladies’s Financial Exercise White Paper, the feminine employment charge in 2022 was 52.9 %, in comparison with 71.5 % for males.
However how a lot do girls earn from these checks?
The Hankook Ilbo reviewed 483 check postings from corporations P, H and D between Aug. 6 and Sept. 19. Of them, 86 paid lower than the present minimal hourly wage of 10,030 received.
Some provided as little as round 6,000 received. One firm explicitly mentioned that delays below 20 minutes wouldn’t be compensated, with out clarifying whether or not delays attributable to the establishment can be dealt with otherwise.
Most checks paid a mean of 13,741 received per hour, barely above minimal wage. Demand stays excessive, nonetheless, prompting some establishments to depend on mass textual content messages similar to “three visits, 80,000 received” or “social gathering members wished,” utilizing a gaming slang time period for group recruitment.
Some even promote checks as “an opportunity to strive new cosmetics without cost,” downplaying that they’re analysis research with potential negative effects. Establishments typically pay referral charges of about 20,000 received to encourage individuals to deliver mates.
“Not like scientific drug trials, checks for cosmetics haven’t any formal rules on participant rights. Compensation and recruitment strategies are left to every establishment,” a consultant from a testing establishment mentioned.
Worry of being ‘blacklisted’
Regardless of low pay and unclear protections, many individuals say they can not complain. A 50-year-old lady with 10 years of expertise mentioned, “They’re those with energy. We’re those who want the work. It’s not straightforward to talk up.”
She recalled asking for extra clarification a couple of product. “The employees’s expression froze instantly. That’s once I realized it’s higher to remain quiet.”
Worry of being barred from future checks is widespread.
Search engine optimization Jin-kyung, a homemaker, mentioned she worries that reporting itchiness or discomfort would result in being informed to “go dwelling,” which means no cost.
A lady in her 30s mentioned she joined round 50 checks however by no means voiced complaints. “Somebody as soon as requested why further pay wasn’t given when the check ran longer than scheduled. After that, she was by no means known as once more. Individuals mentioned she had been blacklisted.”
One other participant, Lee Jong-hee, spoke in a hushed voice exterior H’s constructing, repeatedly checking her environment. “If employees see me doing this interview, I might be kicked out,” she mentioned earlier than hurrying away.
This text from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Occasions, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Occasions.
