• Journal of Korea Planning Association
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.101-116
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• 2018

Paying an attention to the issue of energy poverty of low-income households and ensuing regressivity of energy consumption, this study empirically analyzes the effects of both household and housing characteristics on heating energy consumption in an integrated way and identifies their causal structure based on the 2016 Korea Housing Survey data provided by the Korean government. Multiple regression analysis shows that household income and deteriorated level of housing, such as age and degree of cracks have positive effects and floor area of housing has a negative effect on the heating energy consumption per unit area of housing (HECPUH). Path analyses further reveal that the direct effect of household income on HECPUH is offset by the indirect effects that are mediated by deteriorated level and floor area of housing, making the total effect statistically insignificant. As a result, there is no significant difference in HECPUH across all income strata, implying that low-income (high-income) households pay more (less) heating costs relative to their income level, since they reside in the houses with relatively low (high) energy efficiency. To deal with this regressive causal structure of energy consumption, a policy option is recommended to improve energy efficiency of low-income housing through the government assistance in its maintenance and repair.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.1237-1246
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• 2021

The purpose of the research is to evaluate how education influences the income of household heads, who are young adult in rural Vietnam. In order to examine the impact of education on the households where their heads are young adults, in this paper, the authors employ two research methods. First, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is used to study the impact of education on different groups of income; second, quantile regression is applied to find out how education influences the income of households. The dataset includes a survey of 800 young households aged between18 and 35 who are the head of agricultural farms in rural areas. The findings indicate that education has a positive impact on income of young households. Furthermore, the results prove that the longer schooling years, the higher income youth can attain. The results showed that, at the survey time (Sep 2019), the average monthly income of rural young adults who are joining the production process shows a big gap between low and high incomes. Moreover, the study has revealed that other factors positively affect the incomes, namely, joining job-related associations, land resource, hired labour, hi-tech application as well as extension of producing unit.

• Journal of the Korean housing association
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to explore housing characteristics of young single- or two-person households in the U.S. metropolitan urban areas and determinants of their housing cost burden. Total 764 single-person households, 744 two-person households and 424 households with three or more persons were selected from the 2011 American Housing Survey public-use microdata for the study based on specific sampling criteria. The major findings are as follows: (1) In comparisons with larger households, single- or two-person households were characterized to be headed by younger householders, to have less income, and to have a greater proportion of households living in central cities of metropolitan areas, renting housing units, living in smaller size units or multifamily structures; (3) housing cost of single- or two-person households were significantly less than a larger households while housing costs per unit square footage (SQFT) of single- or two-person households was significantly greater; (4) regardless of the household size, there are many household headed by young college graduates paying too much of their income for housing, and single-person households were found to have the greatest housing cost burden; and (5) a linear combination of low-income status, monthly housing costs per unit SQFT, annual household income, and unit SQFT per person was found to be most efficient to predict single- or two-person households with housing cost burden.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.57-77
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• 2017

To prevent the disincentive of labor supply under the current welfare system, we suggest the safety income system, a Korean version of negative income tax. Under the proposed system, for example, a household with four members whose annual income is less than 50 million wons will get financial support from the government. Under the safety income system, labor supply increases and so does the gross domestic product. The disposable income of low-income households increases, which alleviates the income gap among households. Analyzing the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data, we show that under the safety income system the disposable income differentials among households are reduced much more than under the current welfare system or under the universal basic income system.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.53-78
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to understand the context of happiness that low-income households have experienced. To achieve this purpose, this study used qualitative panel data collected from in-depth interviews and analysed the data through an inductive approach. Specifically, a researcher analysed the context of individual cases, and visualized the contexts comprised of phenomenon and participants' experiences. The researcher, also, comprised the integrated context by continuous individual and complicated analysis. As results, the researcher found that the level of happiness that low-income households have experienced was more directly related with subjective experiences than objective status. In addition, the participants' subjective experiences were comprised of very complicated components of experience, and the level of happiness could differ depending on how individuals perceived positive experiences and negative ones. Based on these findings, researcher proposed the guidelines for social welfare policy and practice to improve the level of low-income households' happiness.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.547-553
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• 2015

BACKGROUNDS/OBJECTIVES: The effects of malnutrition on growth of toddlers and preschoolers by socioeconomic status are not well known. This study aimed to examine the effects of dietary intake on growth outcomes in toddlers and preschoolers by household income level. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study population was a total of 1,687 children aged 1 to 5 years that participated in the KNHANES from 2009 to 2011. Growth of children was assessed by height for age (HFA) and weight for height (WFH). Children were classified into three groups according to children's HFA and WFH compared to the $10^{th}$ and $90^{th}$ percentiles of the 2007 Korean Children and Adolescent Growth Standard. Average monthly household income was divided into quartile groups. Dietary intake data were obtained by using the one day 24-hr recall method. Risks of inadequate intake of nutrients and unfavorable growth were estimated by using a multiple logistic regression model adjusted for sex, age, region, and energy intake. RESULTS: The low HFA group (<$10^{th}$ percentile) had significantly lower intakes of energy, carbohydrate, and thiamin as compared with the high group (${\geq}90^{th}$ percentile). For WFH status, vitamin C intake was lower in the low group than in the high group. Household income level was related to WFH status but not HFA. Children from lower income households were more likely to have high WFH than those from higher income households (P for trend = 0.038). Household income status was also significantly related with risk of inadequate intake of micronutrients such as thiamin (P for trend = 0.032) and vitamin C (P for trend = 0.002), showing higher odds of inadequate intakes in children from lower income households. CONCLUSIONS: Children from lower income households were prone to be overweight and to have inadequate intakes of micronutrients such as thiamin and vitamin C. To reduce nutritional and health disparities, collective action in the public sector is required from early life.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly changed the Lifeline Program, a telecommunications rate discount program for low-income Americans. As the reliance on online activities such as remote work, distance education, and online shopping grows because of the spread of COVID-19, there is a concern that the digital divide will widen among low-income households that struggle to access internet infrastructure due to the burden of access rates. Accordingly, the US Congress passed a bill to help lower the internet bill for low-income households using the government budget to close the digital divide. The Lifeline Program, which is a part of the universal service obligation, has been in charge of the telecommunications rate discount for low-income households. However, according to the new law, the internet rate discount program based on the government budget was implemented beginning in 2021. As the internet rate discount based on the government budget begins, the US telecommunication rate discount system is transitioning from a system in which telecommunication industry support was borne by operators to one in which public support from the government budget will play a significant role. In this paper, we will look at recent changes in the US telecommunications rate discount program and their implications.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.159-178
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• 2011

Korea ranks high among the OECD member countries with a high out-of-pocket share. In 2006, the government implemented in full scale the policy of extending the health insurance benefit coverage. Included in the policy are lowering the out-of-pocket share of patients of serious case and expanding the medical bill ceiling system to mention just a few. This study proposes to confirm effectiveness of the benefit extension policy by identifying changes in 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' and 'incidence rate of catastrophic health care expenditure' of each individual household as manifested before and after the benefit extension policy was implemented. The 1st and 3rd year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), were used for the analysis, where low-income households and ordinary households are sampled separately. While the absolute amount of 'out-of-pocket expenditure' occurred to the average household increased for the period 2005-2007, the 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' decreased. At the same time, the share decreased in the case of low-income households and households with patients of chronic or serious case as contrasted with ordinary households. 'Incidence rates of catastrophic health care expenditure' of ordinary households for 2007 stood at 14.6%, 5.9% and 2.8% at the threshold of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. The rates decreased overall between 2005 and 2007, while those of low-income households with patients of serious case statistically significantly increased. An analysis of this study indicates that it is related with the medical bill ceiling system regardless of incomes introduced in 2007.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.86-89
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• 2019

Catastrophic health expenditure refers to spending more than a certain level of household's income on healthcare expenditure. The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of households that experienced catastrophic health expenditure between 2006 and 2017 with the National Survey of Tax and Benefit (NaSTaB) and between 2011 to 2016 using Households Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data. The results of the NaSTaB showed 2.16% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2017. In trend analysis, the NaSTaB revealed a statistically significant decreasing trend (annual percentage change [APC] = -2.01, p<0.001) in the proportion of households with the catastrophic health expenditure. On the other hand, the results of the HIES showed 2.92% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2016. Also, there was a slightly increasing trend (APC= 1.43, p<0.001). In subgroup analysis, groups with lower income levels were likely to experience catastrophic health expenditure. In conclusion, further public support system is needed to lower experience these healthcare expenditures and monitor the low income group.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.363-369
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• 2023

The term "catastrophic health expenditure" means assessing the extent to which medical costs cause financial hardship for households. The aim of this research is to analyze the percentage of households that faced severe financial strain due to medical expenses from 2006 to 2021. This was achieved by utilizing data obtained from the National Survey of Tax and Benefit (NaSTaB), Korea Health Panel (KHP), and Households Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). A trend analysis was conducted to examine the percentage of households that experienced catastrophic healthcare expenses. The households that experienced the catastrophic health expenditure was 2.49% in 2021 using the NaSTaB data. The trend analysis yielded a statistically significant result, indicating a decreasing trend (annual percent change [APC], -4.79; p<0.0001) in the proportion of households facing catastrophic health expenditures. Also, the results of the 2019 KHP and the 2021 HIES showed 1.09% and 2.44% for the households that experienced catastrophic health expenditure. The trend was increased according to the KHP (APC, 0.55; p=0.0004) and the HIES (APC, 7.04; p<0.0001). As a result, this study proposes that sustained attention and further interventions are necessary to ease the economic pressure caused by catastrophic health expenses, particularly for low-income households.