• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.63-73
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• 1995

Absolute poverty is redefined as biological existence level poverty and relative poverty is also redefinded as 'the state that relatively insufficient compared to the specific society's average living standard under the condition that basic needs on the biological existence level has been satisfied.' Then absolute poverty and relative poverty lies on the same welfare continuum. Therefore these two can be regarded as one unified concept. Theoretical bottom line of poverty is the biological existence level and ceiling is average income. Poverty line for the social policy is to be drawn between ceiling and floor. Using these standard lines three poverty bands are categorized : minimum subsistence level, minimum decency level.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.366-375
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• 2016

This study evaluates the degree of the inequality of medical care expenditure and private health insurance benefits and the relation with household income inequality in korea health care system. This study used the 2014 korea Health Panel survey, and study method is Gini coefficient. The main results are as follow. First, average household income in 1st income quartile is 6,290,000won and 10st income quartile is 101,930,000won. And Gini coefficient of Korea household income is 0.3756. In other words, family income inequality is quite serious. Second, the Gini coefficient of the public institution supported medical care expenditure, such as health insurance and public assistance, is 0.0761, and the Gini coefficient of the expenditure of transportation fee and medical materials etc that don't supported is 0878. The inequality in medical care expenditure in public health care system and without public support aren't serious all. Third, Gini coefficient in excluding household medical care expenditure from household income slightly increased. That is, the medical care expenditure of our country household is the factor of aggravating the inequality of household income. Fourth, Gini coefficient of private health insurance benefits is 0.0927. Therefore, the ineqality in private insurance benefits is low. In addition, the Gini coefficient of the sum of private insurance benefits and household income is 0.3672. it decrease from Gini coefficient(0.3756) of household's. Private health insurance perform the functions somewhat weaken household income inequality. However, it is very little improvement.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.87-95
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• 2017

Purpose - The structural changes of Korean agriculture are complex due to heterogeneous production processes and farms' features. This study analyzed trends of dualism in Korean agriculture over the period 2000-15 based on farm-level data to clarify the specific trends of dualism in terms of farm income, farm-size, and farm operators' age. From the results of this study, we would be able to understand the features of structural changes in Korean agriculture more profoundly. Research design, data, and methodology - We incorporated farm-level data in South Korea: Agricultural census and Farm household economy survey. As measures of inequality, we used size-weighted quantiles, and normalized Gini coefficients as well as mean and conventional quantiles. The size-weighted quantiles are more robust to changes in the number of small farms, but they are more sensitive to changes in the distribution of farm-size. Thus, they would be more useful to identify trends of dualism of Korean agriculture. Results - The results show that the farmland distribution of crop farms became more skewed and dispersed. However, the herd distribution of livestock farms became more concentrated. To be specific, their mean and 1st quantile increases more rapidly than their size-weighted 2nd quantile and size-weighted 3rd quantile. Gini coefficients of livestock farms regarding their herd distribution decreased by 0.1 on average. In the case of income distribution, the results indicate that the polarization regarding farm household/agricultural/non-agricultural income became more severe. However, we also found that the distribution of transfer income became concentrated continuously. The results imply that transfer income including subsidies would decrease farm income polarization. Lastly, during the study periods, Korean farms were aging over time, and age distribution of them more concentrated. Conclusions - The structure of Korean agriculture has been changing, even though the absolute size of it decreased over time. Land (herd) distribution became more dispersed (concentrated). Inequality regarding agricultural income became more severe, and it made farm household income more polarized even though transfer income would decrease income gaps among farms. Lastly, farms continue to age regardless of farm types and this might affect the structural changes in Korean agriculture in the future.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.139-148
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• 2017

Background: The purpose of this study is to investigate family caregivers' opinions about out-of-pocket payment for long-term care (LTC) facilities, and find the differences in the opinions for family caregivers of all different levels of income. Methods: We used the data of the study on out-of-pocket payment in national long-term care insurance, including 1,552 family caregivers with the elderly in long-term care facilities. Results: The average out-of-pocket payment per month was 511,635 Korean won and distributed from 230,750 to 1,365,570 Korean won. The amount of out-of-pocket payment might be affected by not co-payment but the cost of non-covered service. There were differences in them for family caregivers of all different levels of income. Opinions were surveyed about 5 issues. By levels of income, there were differences in their opinions about 3 issues, the financial burden on LTC, the necessity of reducing out-of-pocket payments, and to be willing to pay more for a high quality service. But there were not different opinions about the interruption of LTC service and staying with LTC facilities. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the range of out-of-pocket payment for LTC facility is wide and it can be a burden to lower income group. It should be to prepare the policies to ease the financial burden and support the appropriate LTC use.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.547-558
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• 1996

A rapid increase in urbanization and industrialization brings about a change in economic status which results in considerable changes in lifestyle including food habits and disease and mortality patterns. The purpose of the present study was to investigate recent food habit changes if any, reasons for food habit change, current food consumption patterns, and breakfast practices among urban adults with middle and upper income levels. Three hundred men and women, aged 20-60 years, were randomly selected and interviewed individually by trained interviewers. Among the twenty food groups studied, subjects reported that, compared to two years ago, they are now eating more fast foods, meats, fish, vegetables and fruits, and less rice, noodles, pastries, and salt. The changes in fast foods, fruits, and rice consumption patterns varied significantly between age, sex, income level, and BMI groups. The two most primary reasons for food habit changes were 'for my own health' and 'for my family's health', which shows that health seems to be the major concern in changing food habits. Among meals, the breakfast meal was rated as the most important one, and was not affected by the sociodemographic variables. However, the average rate of skipping breakfast was found to be as high as 33% with a greater rate in younger age groups. The rats of breakfast skipping was found to vary between different income, education, and BMI groups. Among the subjects who eat breakfast meals daily, a traditional Korean breakfast of rice and soup was found to be still a predominant choice, although younger age groups, upper income groups, and people with more education choice, although younger age groups, upper income groups, and people with more education tended to eat a western-style breakfast more frequently. These findings are applicable at the planning and implementation stages of various nutritional improvement projects as a part of the National health Promotion Law.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.19-39
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• 2015

The purpose of the study was to examine the characteristics and economic status of deficit households. The data for this study were from The Household Income and Expenditure Survey in 2000, 2005, and 2010 conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Deficit households were defined by those who had expenditures higher than their income. Among total households, the proportion of deficit households was 26.84% in 2000, 28.14% in 2005, and 27.15% in 2010. The average propensity to consume was 132.1 in 2005, which was higher than those in 2000 and 2010. Deficit households were classified into five types using cluster analysis: 1)overall-overconsumption group(33.07%), 2)basic needs group(26.33%), 3)transportation expenditure-dominated group(6.73%), 4)education expenditure-dominated group(27.63%), 5)health care expenditure-dominated group(6.24%). The overall-overconsumption group was the largest group of total households and the portion of this group among total households decreased by 4.97%p from 2005 to 2010. However, the education expenditure-dominated group increased by approximately 7.6%p over the period. It was also found that households in 2000 and 2010 were more likely to be in all five groups than households in 2005. Other major determinants of households with deficit were gender, age, number of family members, education level, dual income, home ownership, vehicle ownership, and income class.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.92-99
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of the income support allowance policy for the care workers on wage level. Methods: The analysis data was constructed using database (DB) of long-term care institution, DB of long-term care personnel status, and DB of health insurance qualification and contribution possessed by National Health Insurance Services. We analyzed the wage status of care workers 2009 to 2016 through basic analysis. We used the difference-in-difference analysis method for the workers who worked in the same institution from 2012 to 2013, The effects of the income allowance policy on wage increase were analyzed. Results: As a result of the net effect of the income support allowance policy, the monthly average wage of the care worker increased by 25,676 won and the hourly wage increased by 478 won. As a result of the analysis, it can be confirmed that the income support allowance policy has achieved some of the goals of raising the wage level of the care workers, and the effect of raising wages for other occupations in the long-term care business can be confirmed. Conclusion: The low wage problem of long-term care workers such as care workers is not the only problem in Korea. In other countries, there are various wage support policies for employees. In particular, it is necessary to refer to the improvement in the treatment of care workers in Japan and wage pass-through in the United States. In addition to wages, there is a need to promote policies to provide employment motivation through efforts to improve their social status and improve their job status and career development for employees in long-term care facilities.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.60-70
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relation between health behavior and public health center utilization among lower income families who earned half of the average Korean family income. The cross-sectional descriptive survey research we conducted was a nationwide randomization sampling among lower income families. The data was collected from July 12 to August 7. 1999 and the total sample was 5.819 household members 1,735 households). There were, three major findings according to these studies. 1. In health behaviors, 26.5% of respondents had a health examination. Among them, 41.5% were in a poor condition of health. In health promotion behaviors, only 37.3% of respondents were doing activities for health maintenance or promotion. 2. In the results of the public health center utilization for the past year. 57.4% of respondents visited one or more times. In addition, 46.2% of respondents wanted to use a visiting nursing service. 3. In the results of multiple logistic regression, we found that less education, larger family size, and medicaid affects more utilization of public health center. In addition, older age, living without a spouse, less education, larger family size, lower family income. and public health center usage affects requests for the visiting nurse service.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.56-64
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of health-promoting behaviors (HPB), marital intimacy, and parenting stress on the quality of life (QoL) of low-income women with young children in Korea, an underserved group. Methods: This cross-sectional survey employed a descriptive correlational design. Using convenience sampling, 123 low-income women with children younger than 6 years were recruited from 14 health and community centers in Jeonju, Korea, from June 2020 to May 2021. Participants completed a questionnaire on QoL, HPB, marital intimacy, and parenting stress. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis. Results: Participants, who were on average 37.41±3.65 years old and had 1 to 2 children (n=98, 79.7%), reported a mid-level (3.14 out of 1-5) of QoL. Marital intimacy (β=.38, p<.001) was the most influential factor on the QoL of low-income women with young children. In descending order, HPB (β=.35, p<.001) and non- employment status (β=-.21, p=.003) had a significant influence on QoL (F=15.64, p<.001), and the overall explanatory power was 49.0%. Conclusion: Considering the mid-level QoL of low-income women with young children, programs aimed at improving the QoL of low-income women need to promote marital intimacy and maintain HPB, while considering their employment status. Strategies that include couple counseling, health care to encourage healthy lifestyles, and reemployment education are needed.

• 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.