• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.147-160
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• 2007

This research challenges the general notion of one-person households of the elderly during widowhood as impoverished, isolated, and vulnerable. Recognizing a high potential vulnerability, however, this research attempts to describe the diverse composition of one-person households of the elderly. For this purpose, relying on 2% sample data from the 2000 census, it examines regional distribution, socio-economic characteristics, and determinants of one-person households of the elderly during widowhood. Socio-economic characteristics of one-person households of the elderly differ by region. Jeju island is distinct in terms of sex and age distribution, and residence area of children. In general, rates of economic activity and self-subsistence are higher in provinces than in cities. Compared to the elderly living with family, the elderly living alone show high rates of economic activity, self-subsistence, and capability of physical activity. Results of logistic regression analysis of determinants of living arrangement are consistent with those of descriptive statistics. Those who are economically active and able to move around without assistance tend to live alone after the death of a spouse. Number of sons and living in an urban area are negatively associated with living alone, whereas females are more likely than males to live alone. According to the separate analysis by age, the positive effect of economic activity is greater in the oldest of the old than in other age groups. Those who possess high educational attainment tend to live alone when they are 80 and older, unlike other age groups. Based on these findings, this paper finds that one-person households of the elderly nay not always be the most vulnerable group, and are diverse in terms of socioeconomic characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.408-421
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• 2019

Objectives: This study compared the dietary behaviors of single-person households when eating alone according to the employment pattern and age. Methods: A total of 566 people aged 20~59 years old were collected from the status of workers and classified into three groups according to their employment pattern (regular, non-regular workers and business owner). The subjects were collected by purposive quota sampling on a Gallup panel from June to November in 2017. The dietary behavior and perception of eating alone of the subjects were surveyed via online and self-reported questionnaires. Results: The frequency of eating alone was significantly higher in the regular group than the non-regular group and business group (p<0.01). The place of eating alone was significantly higher in the regular and non-regular group in the convenience store, and business group in the office (p<0.001). Ramen, the menu when eating alone, was significantly higher in the non-regular group than the other groups (p<0.01). The preference for eating alone was lower in the older age group (p<0.05). The young aged group (aged 20~30) ate more fast food and felt more convenience than the older aged group aged 40~50 years (p<0.05). Conclusions: Single-person households with a non-regular job have poorer dietary behavior in eating alone than those who had regular employment. In a situation of an increasing number of non-regular workers aged in their 20s and 30s, there is a high likelihood of social problems, such as health and poverty. This study highlights the need for a healthy food selection environment to improve the dietary life of single-person households with non-regular jobs for the diverse types of single-person households.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.39-45
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• 2014

Energy poverty has been defined as low-income households who paid energy cost more than 10% of their ordinary income. Therefore, there are various subsidy programs focused on house remodeling for low-income households and one of them is the Home Energy Efficiency Assistance Program which have done by Korea Energy Foundation since 2007. The aim of the program is to improve the thermal performance of dilapidated dwellings and analyzed the detached house for the low-income households to develop the building typology. The database contained approximately 3,061 households which was obtained from the program in 2013 and the results of the study were like this; 1) For the shape of residential houses, the number of rectangular shaped building was higher than non-rectangular shaped ones. 2) For the orientation of buildings, the south layout of the detached housing was dominant to gain heating energy into buildings. 3) For the floor area, the average floor area was $44.2m^2$, although its size varied wide variations, which range from $6.3m^2$ to $107.1m^2$. 4) For the windows and doors, the south-facing window was larger than the other side. Finally it would be possible to determine the characteristics of residential houses for low-income families. A future study could establish typology of low-income housing that it would estimate the performance of each model building before and after the retrofit to improve the energy performance.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2019

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore different types of self-rated health trajectories among one-person households in Korea. Methods: We used five time-point data derived from Korea Health Panel (2011~2015). A latent growth curve modeling was used to assess the overall feature of self-rated health trajectory in one-person households, and a latent class growth modeling was used to determine the number and shape of trajectories. We then applied multinomial logistic regression on each class to explore the predicting variables. Results: We found that the overall slope of self-rated health in one-person households decreases. In addition, latent class analysis demonstrated three classes: 1) High-Decreasing class (i.e., high intercept, significantly decreasing slope), 2) Moderate-Decreasing class (i.e., average intercept, significantly decreasing slope), and 3) Low-Stable class (i.e., low intercept, flat and nonsignificant slope). The multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that the predictors of each class were different. Especially, one-person households with poor health condition early were at greater risk of being Low-Stable class compared with High-Decreasing class group. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that more attentions to one-person households are needed to promote their health status. Policymakers may develop different health and welfare programs depending on different characteristics of one-person household trajectory groups in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.613-629
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• 2005

This research analyzes household financial structures and ratios to understand factors of household utility. Its main themes are as following: First, what kinds financial structures are found at each level of income? Second, how are they different by the level of income? Third, what factors contribute to appropriate financial ratios? The themes are supported by the texts on financial ratios from both inside and outside of Korea and proved by the Korean Labor and Income Panel Survey, the fifth annual edition. The households are exempted that do not support the household principle record in the principle and household economy record. Accordingly, this survey is from a financial structure analysis of 3,762 households. The analysis utilizes SPSS Window (Version 10.0) program. The following are the results: First, the income level 4 and above, in which the increasing number indicates a higher level of income, are highly ranked on the income-expense level and the asset-debt rate. Also, level 4 has a strong financial structure, whereas level 1 does not. Apparently, the management of the household is complicated by debt redemption and a lower level of assets. Second, Ratio 1, Ratio 2, Ratio 4, and Ratio 5 are different by the level of income. Third, the level of income contributes to the appropriate financial ratio. The financial safety and prospective financial structure at each income level is an important variable. Households with a high income, in particular, have to balance their finances and capital, reducing liabilities and increasing the total assets. In other words, the family must hold assets to enhance efficiency according to the character and income level of the household. This research is a useful resource for such a decision-making as to improve household financial structure stability. Also, it can be adopted to evaluate financial products for specific households and be used for economic and social welfare planning to predict how households influence the nationwide economy.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-32
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine household food insecurity and the associations of food insecurity with socioeconomic characteristics, food behaviors, health status and nutrient intake among elderly people in a rural area. This study included 191 elderly people (mean age = $72.0{\pm}7.4$) in Jeollabuk-do, Jangsu-gun. House food insecurity was measured using an adapted version of the USDA short form household food insecurity scale, and nutrient intake measured by a 24-hour dietary recall. Only 15.2% of the subjects were in food-insecure households, 84.8% of the elderly households were food-secure. The food-insecure households were significantly lower in the number of family, frequency of shopping, and perceived health status than the food-secure households. In addition, they had serious tooth problems and NSI (Nutrition Screening Index) scores. Food-insecure households were significantly lower in most areas of nutrient intake (energy, protein, fat, Ca, P, Fe, K, Na, Zn, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E), and also lower in nutrient intake compared to dietary reference intake (energy, protein, P, Fe, K, Na, Vit. $B_1$, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E). These results suggest that the household food insecurity measures used in this study were an important indicator of nutritional well-being among elderly persons in the rural area. Food insecurity should be considered an important issue to public health and food service programs should be expanded for food-insecure households in rural areas.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.576-583
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to estimate the influence of the determinants for home meal replacement (HMR) purchase frequency before and after COVID-19. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to the 2018~2020 Consumer Behavior Survey for Food data from the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI). Gender, age, number of households, monthly income, use of eating out, delivery and takeout order service, HMR food safety concern, the frequency of cooking at home, grocery shopping, and eating alone were applied as the explanatory variables to explain HMR purchase frequency. The results are as below. Compared to the previous year, the growth rate of HMR purchase frequency in 2020 was relatively high, indicating that the COVID-19 outbreak acted as a catalyst. Unlike in 2018 and 2019, there was no statistical difference in the HMR purchase frequency between single- and multi-person households in 2020, with indicating multi-person households began to emerge as one of the major HMR consumption groups. Unlike 2018, the 2020 HMR purchase frequency showed a statistically positive relationship with those of grocery shopping and eating alone. There was a positive relationship between the frequency of eating out/food delivery orders and HMR purchases. The more often cooking at home occurred, the less HMR food was purchased.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.84-87
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• 2017

Catastrophic healthcare expenditure refers to out-of-pocket spending for healthcare exceeding a certain proportion of a household's income and can lead to subsequent impoverishment. The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of South Korean households that experienced catastrophic healthcare expenditure between 2006 and 2015 using available data from the Korea Health Panel, National Survey of Tax and Benefit, and Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Frequencies and trend tests were conducted to analyze the proportion of households with catastrophic healthcare expenditure. Subgroup analysis was performed based on income level. The results of the Household Income and Expenditure Survey revealed that around 2.88% of households experienced catastrophic healthcare expenditure in 2015 and that this proportion was highest in the low income group. Results also showed a statistically significant increasing trend in the number of households with catastrophic healthcare expenditure (annual percentage change= 0.92%, p-value < 0.0001). Therefore, the findings infer a need to strengthen public health care financing and to particularly monitor catastrophic healthcare expenditure in the low income group.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.139-152
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• 2002

This study was performed to estimate living cost for the elderly couple living in a city in Korea. Living cost means expenditure per month for elderly couple. It was assumed that the elderly couple will need different living cost according to their circumstances. The circumstances are health status, retirement status, and the level of living they want. The subjects were the elderly couple households over the age 65 of household head. Total number of subject was 1,649 households. Used data was Annual Report surveyed by National Statistical Office on the Family Income and Expenditure. Analysis of data was done through frequency, percentage, means, median using SAS Program. The results of this study were as follows: Their standard living cost was 844,980 won by pure relative standard line and 842,300 won by quasi relative standard lines. And minimum living cost was 713,400 won by the former, by the latter was 557,600 won (3/2 of median). And abundant Living cost was 1,068,020 won by the former, by the latter 1,263,450 won. The living cost of elderly households was about 81-83%, comparing with non-elderly households. Among the item of expenditure, the proportion of housing and medical care cost was larger than any other items.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.17-40
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to analyze the present condition of work-leisure balance and its influencing factors in employed young single households. Three groups of sample households-work-oriented, balanced, and leisure-oriented-were compared by factors related to work and leisure. Six cases were interviewed to obtain qualitative data on the subjective meaning of work-life balance and its influencing factors. The results showed different characteristics between the three groups based on the various work- and -leisure- related factors: average weekly working hours of the week, number of vacation days per year, weekday leisure time, degree of weekday freedom, and sufficiency of the leisure cost. In addition, the characteristics considered desirable for quality of life differed between groups. Finding the meaning of life through work and leisure was very important for those respondents, who have an unstable position in the labor market, and who want to delay making decisions on moving into the marriage and family-building phase recognized as a major development task for Korean adults.