• Journal of the Korean Society of Child Welfare
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• no.26
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• pp.113-137
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• 2008

Present study investigated the effects of poverty and poverty-co-factors in childhood. The effect of poverty status was measured by needs-income ratio. It compared its effect on children's socio-emotional development with that of poverty proxy variables such as recipient of public assistance, financial stress, subjective perception about social class, residence in public housing. It also examined the effects of poverty-co-factors after poverty status were controlled. Results show that poverty status has a more consistent negative relationship with socio-emotional development than other proxy variables. However, the relationship between them disappeared after poverty-co-factors were controlled. Findings from the present study suggest that targeted efforts for decreasing poverty-co-factor risks should be made along with financial support.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.69 no.3
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• pp.9-33
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• 2017

This study estimated the socioeconomic costs of child poverty. Based on previous studies, the present study organized component categories for direct and indirect costs of child poverty, and estimated the cost of each category in 2015 through the collection of existing data and Delphi survey techniques among experts. The total socioeconomic costs of child poverty were compared to Korea's GDP. The results of this study were as follows. First, the socioeconomic costs of child poverty in Korea in 2015 ranged from 55 trillion KW(3.5% of GDP) to 99 trillion KW(6.5% of GDP). Second, the indirect socioeconomic costs of child poverty are much higher than the direct costs. Third, among the total cost categories, costs related to productivity loss and unemployment accounted for the largest portion of both the socioeconomic costs based upon absolute poverty and relative poverty. Crime costs are the second largest. Based on these results, we discussed the importance of early intervention for children in poverty; implementation of two-generation program that intervenes simultaneously with parents and children; and long-term, continuous and integrated intervention for high-risk groups such as poor children.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.275-290
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• 2005

This study investigates whether previous experiences in the labor market such as previous employment type and job type are related to the economic status and poverty in the elderly in Korea. Previous studies are limited in explaining the causes of poverty by using only the proxy variables such as age, marital status, and gender to classify the poverty status of the elderly after poverty has been identified. Therefore little is known about how the economic well-being after retirement is interrelated with previous job experiences in the labour market. The results indicate that the last job type and type of employment are significant predictors for the economic status of elderly. Job type in the labour market is critical for the lifetime economic status of an individual. These findings imply that we might need to reconsider the current public pension system which directly relates the benefit level to the amount of contribution. A system introducing a basic pension or a minimum pension benefit based on the citizenship or residence might be an alternative worth to consider.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.245-268
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate the empirical relation between economic growth and poverty in Korea. Especially, the focus is put on exploring if there are any changes in the relation of economic growth and poverty. From 1982-2004 Korea Urban Household Survey, I constructed the annual data of poverty rate. I also obtained the annual data of the real GDP and the unemployment rate from the National Statistical Office. Using these annal data of the poverty rate and the macroeconomic performance, I analyzed the relation of them. As the result, I found that the macroeconomic growth have played very important role in reducing the poverty rate in Korea. Since 2000, the macroeconomic growth have still worked as an effective instrument for poverty reduction. However, there have been poverty increase that has not been explained by the macroeconomic growth since 2000. Based on these results, this paper suggests that the anti-poverty strategy in Korea should be changed from the old strategy emphasizing only economic growth to the new strategy pursuing both economic growth and social security simultaneously.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.167-194
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• 2004

This paper examine the gender-poverty gap and the feminization of poverty in Korea with using data from the National Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996, 2000) and the Urban Survey Household Income & Expenditure(1996-2002) by Korea National Statistical Office. The poverty rate in 2000 was 16.9 percent for female-head families and 7.9 percent for male-head families, which means that female-head families were 2.6 times more likely to be poor than male-head families. With examining impact of economic crisis in 1998 on gender-poverty gap, it show that both the poverty rate of female-head and male-head increase radically in peak of economic crisis, while, in the stage of recovering economy, the poverty rate of male-head families recovered mostly the level before economic crisis, but that of female-head families recover only the 2/3 level before and the 1/3 remain still under poverty. Thus gender-poverty gap appeared bigger during passing through economic crisis. With analyzing on influence factors of poverty, it appear that poverty is influenced by gender itself as well as education level, working condition which is reflected substantially characteristics of gender. Such an analysis results mean that the considering gender dimension is necessary to resolve poverty fundamentally because gender is a point intersection among family, labour market, and social security. Therefore it appears certain that to develop and adopt of women-friendly social policy is effective approach, which could resolve poverty and social problems related to social rights.

• 한국노년학
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.911-931
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• 2010

This study was conducted with objectives to assess consumption structure of the elderly households in Korea, focusing on the difference of consumption structure depending on the poverty status and family type. The results of this study show that the poor elderly households have primarily consumed the necessary goods for health care, food, clothing, and shelter. Especially, the poor single elderly living alone and married couples living independently(or alone) have been in the serious unbalanced consumption status. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the support schemes to help the consumption of necessary goods should be introduced to improve their economic well-being. The support schemes to promote their social role as consumers should be also introduced.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.313-339
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to analysis empirically the socio-structural causes of working poor. This study used raw data of of Korea National Statistical Office from 1982 to 2004, and put in operation time series multiple regression analysis to use socio-economic factors of macro-economy environment, labor market, distribution system. Contrary to assertion of growth-concentrated people, economic growth rate has had significantly positive effect on the change of working poor size. In the growth period there has been trickle down effect of economic growth, but in the post-Fordism period there has not been valid circular relation. Recent introduction of the U. S. type capitalism resulted in negative phenomenon like aggravation of income distribution, deterioration of employment quality, enlargement of working poor. And there rise a question on socio-economic durability due to de-compensation on intra-institution. It is necessary to grope transition to the high road social market model - that is stable and sustainable - correspond to Korea that is stable and sustainable.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.73-87
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic deprivation of male-headed or female-headed households. Household having children under the age of 18 are categorized into three types according to the gender of household head: male-headed household, female-headed household, and dual-parents household. The findings from data, for this study came from the Korean Labor Panel Study in 2003. The analysis shows that the household's age, education, residence types, etc are key explanatory variables in determining whether to be in poverty. While the public income transfer is most effective in reducing poverty in female-headed households, the private income source is relatively more useful among male-headed families. Since single-household families are particularly at risk, public policy makers should pay special attentions to developing and expanding welfare-to-work programs which provides work incentives to overcome relative poverty and community networks on child care.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.57-78
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• 2004

The economic crisis in $1997{\sim}1998$ caused massive unemployment and unprecedentedly increased the number of the poor in Korea. As many unemployed families fell into poverty, the poverty rate skyrocketed to higher than 10 percent. Not later than 2000, unemployment late got back to normal and real average income among urban households approached to the income level prior to the economic crisis. Although the economic crisis has been passed through, poverty was not decreased to the low level prior to the crisis by 2000. Why does it remain high? This study attempts to provide an answer to this question by analysing the poverty trend over the 1990s. Data come from the National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures 1991, 1996, and 20001. Results show that poverty was rapidly reduced in the first half period of the 1990s. This reduction in poverty is largely explained by steady and rapid economic growth. Modest improvement in income inequality also contributed. In contrast, the poverty rate considerably increased in the latter half of the 1990s. Average income was not fully recovered to its prior level, which reflected the economic crisis and the subsequent economic stagnation. Worsened income inequality led to higher poverty rate too. In addition, demographic changes increased the share of economically vulnerable types of families, such as families headed by single parents and the elderly. The most significant factor in explaining the higher poverty rate was extended income differential among non-elderly adults, while the next was the increased number of the elderly families. Yet, findings a little differ depending on which concepts of poverty to adopt. In the analyses based on the concept of absolute poverty, economic growth the most significantly affected the poverty trends in the 1999s. Changes in income inequality played the most important role in explaining the trend in relative poverty. Adopting the concepts of quasi-absolute poverty, which is preferred in this study, results show that rapid economic growth significantly reduced poverty in the first half of the 1990s and both worsened income inequality and stagnated economic growth increased poverty in the latter 1990s.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.233-265
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• 2011

Material hardship measures have been used to supplement the traditional income-based poverty measures. Recently poverty researchers have increasingly used measure of material hardship to examine the well-being of low income families. Measuring the material hardship might be useful to a better understanding of the multi-dimensions of the poverty in Korea. Using the data of the Korea Welfare Panel Study(the fourth wave), I examine incidences of material hardship across quintiles of the income distributions and the factors that might affect the experience of material hardship among the poor families. Major findings are as follows. Descriptive results show that nearly one-fifth of all families had experienced at least one of the five material hardships in the year. Those in the bottom quintiles and the poor families are more likely to experience material hardship than the other quintiles and non-poor families. But, incidences of the material hardship in the middle income quintiles and low income families are not a few(18 percent and 37 percent). Logistic regression results show that family-consumption related variables, income other economic resources(asset and public assistance), and household's employment status affect the experience of material hardship among the poor families. But, material hardship among the poor families is not significantly related with family income. These results indicate that material hardship measures are the useful indicators to understanding the multi-dimensions of the poverty in Korea. And they suggest that an extensive reform of the public assistance policy is necessary to relieve the material hardships of the poor in Korea.