• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.277-311
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• 2010

The powerful association between poverty and mental health has been recognized for many decades in the Western Countries. Despite growing poverty studies, there has been little attention to the association between poverty and mental health in Korea. In this article we examine the effects of the mental health on the poverty status transition. In this study we draw on nationally representative data from the The Korean Welfare Panel Study, to estimate the effects of depression and self-respects on the poverty status transition. Major findings are as follows. First, we find that there are mental health disparities between poor and non-poor classes. The mental health conditions of the poor are worse than the non-poor. Second, we find the strong correlations between the mental health and poverty status transition. Whether poor family exits poverty or not depends on the household head's mental health. Third, poverty experiences are different depending on the mental health conditions. To the mental ill-health family, the probabilities of poverty-exit are much lower and poverty duration is more long. Fourth, we find that family poverty status transitions are very significantly related with household head's mental health from the logistic model analysis. These findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between poor mental health and the experience of poverty in Korea. They also suggest that intervention programs to enhance the mental health of the poor are needed in order to reduce the poverty problem in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.203-230
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• 2013

The present study aimed to analyze possible causal relationship between drinking problem and depression. In addition, The study examined if poverty status transition is associated with the causal relationship between drinking problem and depression. The study sample consisted of 3,976 adults who have participated in both the first and the second wave survey of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. The causality between drinking problem and depression was analyzed using Latent Difference Scores (LDS) model, which was established in McArdle & Hanagami (2001). Furthermore, it was examined if poverty status transition (represented by four subgroups: poverty-sustained group, poverty-escaping group, non-poverty-sustained group, poverty beginning group) would influence the causal relationship between drinking problem and depression. The major findings are as follows. The result of a LDS model analysis using the entire sample shows that depression at the first wave predicts significantly the change of drinking problem between the first wave and the second wave and also drinking problem at the first wave predicts significantly the change of depression between the first wave and the second wave, which can be interpreted as there is reciprocal causal relationship between depression and drinking problem. In poverty status transition subgroup analyses, the reciprocal causal relationship between depression and drinking problem is held in the poverty-sustained group while depression is a cause of drinking problem both in the poverty beginning group and in the non-poverty-sustained group. However, there is no significant causal relationship between depression and drinking problem in the poverty-escaping group. All these findings indicate that the direction of causality between depression and drinking problem can be varied according the poverty status change, which provides a comprehensive explanation to inconsistent research findings from previous cross-section studies of the relationship between depression and drinking problem.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.257-279
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• 2012

This study examined how employment status changes affects poverty transition of workable youth using 3years panel data from KoWePS(Korea Welfare Panel Study, 2007-2009). Findings and implications of this study as follows. First, although relative poverty rate of aged 18-34 is lower than other age groups, significant amount of youth experienced poverty once in 2007-2009(14.59%). This means that there are some of youth suffering for poverty and the aspect of youth poverty is very dynamic. Second, much of workable poor of youth had high level of education(45.9% in 2009) and they were unemployed or inactive in labor market(55.3% in 2009). These findings consistent with previous studies of youth poverty or youth employment. Third, workable youth who had changed employment status from employed to unemployed or inactive in labor market were likely to enter poverty and less likely to exit from poverty. Moreover youth who were non-standard employed had more possibility to be poor and less possibility to be not poor. These show that employment instability makes youth vulnerable to economic hardship, poverty. The result of this study suggest that anti-poverty programs which are related with the work-related programs and active labor market policy, should consider workable youth who have high level of human capital comparing other ordinary working poor. Because of much of youth are not poor in fixed time point, they can't be supported from existing social assistance program, like National Basic Livelihood Protection Program. As youth who experienced poverty in changing time need social support to prevent long-term poverty, government should contemplate adopting assistance program for workable poor youth.

• 한국노년학
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.617-635
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• 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate both poverty and depression among older adults, focusing on the relationship of these two trajectories. For expanding the understanding about elderly poverty and depression, the study measured the longitudinal patterns of various transition in these two variables. The data for the study is 1st to 9th waves (2006-2014) of Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), and 4,431 older adults were used for the final analysis. For data analysis, Semi-parametric group-based modeling and Dual trajectory model were selected. The main results of this study were followings; First, The trajectory groups were identified: non-poverty, decrease poverty, increase poverty, remain high-poverty, chronic poverty groups and 4 trajectories of depression: stable, remain low-depression, risk of depression, chronic depression groups. Second, the study was tried to anticipate the longitudinal transition of poverty and depression status, and investigate the concurrent relationship in these two variables. It turned out that the stable poverty status led the stable depression, and vice versa. Based on these result, this study for elderly welfare were discussed to reduce risk for poverty and depression.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.31-50
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• 2015

This study attempted to empirically investigate the determinants of poverty transition of the working poor with disabilities from a dynamic perspective. Analyses were conducted on the data from Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled(PSED, Year 1-6), included the households with a disabled head of household. The working poor were defined as the household of which income fell below 120% of the absolute poverty line among the households just described. As results, The 6-year mean poverty rate for the working poor with disabilities included in the analysis was 31.4%, approximately three times of the poverty rate of the total population and the working poor with disabilities were found to have greater difficulty with poverty exit once having fell into poverty than all households living in poverty. And it was found that the economic activity factor was the key determinant of in-work poverty. In addition, employment of the working poor with disabilities did not lead straight to poverty exit, and the quality, rather than the status of, employment was the key determinant of poverty exit. The implications of the findings of this study are that it is essential to increase decent jobs, expand the social safety net of the working poor with disabilities and establish poverty reduction measures for each class of the working poor with disabilities to exit from poverty.