• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.1-44
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• 2014

This paper investigates the effect of household formation on the mapping from wage inequality to income inequality, which usually is smaller than the former. Added workers, income pooling among household members, and shared consumption are the factors that make income distribution less inequal than wage distribution, and the effect of income pooling appears to be the greatest. This suggests than the increase in nuclear families and the resulting increase of old families have a potential effect of worsening income inequality at the absence of sufficient private income transfers among the two households. A simple counter-factual estimate indicates that income pooling among the children's and parents' households can efficiently and sizeably reduce income inequality.

• Journal of Consumption Culture
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.213-247
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to analyze the economic structures of low-income households, and to provide the policy suggestions for their economic well-being. The data for this study was from the 2009 year of the Korea Welfare Panel Survey (KOWEPS). The results are as follows: As for income structure, the low-income households had lower amounts in earned income, business and side-work income, and property income, but a higher amount in transfer income. They had a lower amount in private transfer income, but a higher amount in public transfer income. They had the highest rate of transfer income, showing that the rate of public transfer income was higher than that of private transfer income, and the government assistance was the highest rate in public transfer income. The households in extreme poverty had the lowest amounts in earned income, financial income, private transfer income, but the highest amount in public transfer income. The households in poverty had the lowest amount in transfer income. The households in extreme poverty, poverty and near poverty showed the highest rate in transfer income. As for asset structure, the low-income households had a lower amount in every type of assets. They showed the highest rate in total debt, and had a higher rate in housing asset, but lower rates in real-estate asset, financial asset and other asset. The households in extreme poverty had a lower amount in every type of assets than the households in near poverty. Three types of the low-income households showed the highest rate in housing asset, but the households in extreme poverty was the highest among them. As for expenditure structure, the low-income households had lower amounts in all of the expenditure items. They showed the highest rate in food expenditure, the second highest in other consumption expenditure. The households in extreme poverty showed lower amounts in almost all of the expenditure items than the households in near poverty, but the households in extreme poverty showed a higher amount in monthly rent than the households in neat poverty. Three types of the low-income households showed the highest rate in food expenditure. The expenditure rates of food, monthly rent and light·heat·water for households in extreme poverty were higher than those for the households in near poverty.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.71-130
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• 2008

Using data from the Korean Labor & Income Panel Study (KLIPS), this study investigates private income transfers in Korea, where adult children have undertaken the most responsibility of supporting their elderly parents without well-established social safety net for the elderly. According to the KLIPS data, three out of five households provided some type of support for their aged parents and two out of five households of the elderly received financial support from their adult children on a regular base. However, the private income transfers in Korea are not enough to alleviate the impact of the fall in the earned income of those who retired and are approaching an age of needing financial assistance from external source. The monthly income of those at least the age of 75, even with the earning of their spouses, is below the staggering amount of 450,000 won, which indicates that the elderly in Korea are at high risk of poverty. In order to analyze microeconomic factors affecting the private income transfers to the elderly parents, the following three samples extracted from the KLIPS data are used: a sample of respondents of age 50 or older with detailed information on their financial status; a five-year household panel sample in which their unobserved family-specific and time-invariant characteristics can be controlled by the fixed-effects model; and a sample of the younger split-off household in which characteristics of both the elderly household and their adult children household can be controlled simultaneously. The results of estimating private income transfer models using these samples can be summarized as follows. First, the dominant motive lies on the children-to-parent altruistic relationship. Additionally, another is based on exchange motive, which is paid to the elderly parents who take care of their grandchildren. Second, the amount of private income transfers has negative correlation with the income of the elderly parents, while being positively correlated with the income of the adult children. However, its income elasticity is not that high. Third, the amount of private income transfers shows a pattern of reaching the highest level when the elderly parents are in the age of 75 years old, following a decreasing pattern thereafter. Fourth, public assistance, such as the National Basic Livelihood Security benefit, appears to crowd out private transfers. Private transfers have fared better than public transfers in alleviating elderly poverty, but the role of public transfers has been increasing rapidly since the welfare expansion after the financial crisis in the late 1990s, so that one of four elderly people depends on public transfers as their main income source in 2003. As of the same year, however, there existed and occupied 12% of the elderly households those who seemed eligible for the National Basic Livelihood benefit but did not receive any public assistance. To remove elderly poverty, government may need to improve welfare delivery system as well as to increase welfare budget for the poor. In the face of persistent elderly poverty and increasing demand for public support for the elderly, which will lead to increasing government debt, welfare policy needs targeting toward the neediest rather than expanding universal benefits that have less effect of income redistribution and heavier cost. Identifying every disadvantaged elderly in dire need for economic support and providing them with the basic livelihood security would be the most important and imminent responsibility that we all should assume to prepare for the growing aged population, and this also should accompany measures to utilize the elderly workforce with enough capability and strong will to work.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.5-35
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• 2004

This research is about the change of the occupation and the income of the subscriber of the medical expenditure due to the economic influence on them. The data of this study are based on 4,215 of medical cost payers among respondents of the survey on "Health and Retirement", which was the fourth additional research of Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey. The main findings of this study are as follows: First, the average medical cost is 5.5% of the income. The ratio of the medical cost to an earned income is highly different between low-income group and high income group. For the low income group, the medical cost reaches up to 1/3 of the total family income. That proves that the medical cost si a heavy burden on them. The group with the high medical expenditure seems to be supported by their own private property and other family members whenever it is needed. But it doesn't show the exact sources of the property, which includes the fund from the interests and real estates. On the other hand, only 14.4% of the subscribers changed their job status on the 5th year, and 85.6% of those kept their job status until the 5th year from the 4th year. This shows that the amount of the medical cost could be the important factor for them to change their job; for example, it is crucial whether the medical expenditure is over the average rate or not. Furthermore, the change of the occupation caused by the medical cost has the negative influence on the gross income. It makes the economic conditions of the family get worse. Therefore, the health insurance in Korea is lack of the compensational function, which substitutes the family income reduced by the change of the job status due to the high medical cost.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.231-251
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• 2014

Recently, Korean government documented the plan to cope with the situation related to rich pensioners of Basic old-age pension. The purpose of this paper is to verify that how many rich pensioners are existing and to evaluate government reform plan's validity and effect. Main results are as follows; firstly, if the definition of rich pensioners is on the top 10%, the proportion of them would form 2.9% of total. And then, an amount of expenditure for them is only 2.6% of total. Secondly, in terms of disposable income, debt, and transfer income from child, the household who would be applied by government's plan is not richer than other household who is in the same living standard. And then, if the government's plan enforced, the effect might be very small. Lastly, the plan of government will discriminate against persons who support their parent. As a result, Basic old-age pension will be worsen. This paper should underline that the government's reform is only the 'hidden' retrenchment strategy in order to introduce a standard of the obligation to support own parent in the state without scientific prediction and serious discussion of negative public opinion. That is why, this is the same as the 'Trojan Horse'.