• Human Ecology Research
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2016

This study explored the characteristics, housing deficits and expectations for support programs of low-income renter households in housing poverty in order to provide housing policy development and improvement information. Microdata of the 2014 Korea Housing Survey was utilized as secondary data for this study. A total of 2,508,672 low-income renter households (weighted count) in the bottom 40% income ranks of entire general households living in private rental units were selected as study subjects. The major findings were as follows. (1) One point four percent of the subjects were living in non-house living quarters (e.g., shanties, vinyl greenhouses, container houses, and mud huts), 1.4% were in dosshouses, 9.9% were in basements, semi-basements or rooftop units, and 8.2% were in sub-standard units. (2) Among the households whose housing costs burdens were measurable, 75.7% were found to have housing cost burdens to pay 30% or more of their household income towards housing costs (rental costs and maintenance costs), but only 7.5% of the burdened households received a housing voucher. (3) Eighty-one percent were found to be in a housing poverty status as defined by the researcher; in addition, low-income renter households in housing poverty in Seoul tended to have a greater proportion of households headed by females, the elderly, and be persons with low-education or disabilities. (4) Households in housing poverty showed greater expectations for financial support and/or extended provisions of public rental housing than other low-income renter households.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.611-628
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to examine influence of home energy cost on housing cost burden of Korean and U.S. monthly renter households in urban areas and to explore influences of household and housing characteristics on their home energy cost burden. Microdata for this research was extracted from the 2011 Korean Household Budget Survey and 2009 American Housing Survey. Monthly renter households in urban areas were initially grouped based on household income, followed by a detailed analysis of housing and home energy cost. Findings are as follows: (1) The maximum ratio of home energy cost to household house hold income in Korea was 49% compared to 83% in the US; (2) Energy cost to income ratio were found to have significant influences on housing cost burden and lower income households' housing cost burden was found more vulnerable to their energy cost; (3) In general, the energy cost burden of low-income renter households in Korea tended to be influenced by household size, the number of household members staying at home during daytime hours and housing unit size. The energy cost burden of low-income renter households in the U.S. tended to be influenced by home structure type, size and age, the householder's age, race, educational attainment, the household size, number of wage earners per household, income, and the number of household members between 7 and 17 years of age.