Socio-economic Characteristics of the Poor and Poverty Transition in Korea : Since the Recent Economic Crisis

빈곤층의 사회경제적 특성과 빈곤 이행 : 경제위기 이후의 시기를 중심으로

This study investigates the causes of poverty in Korea since the 1997 Economic Crisis by analyzing the composition and characteristics of the poor by the types of families. While the poor largely consisted of disadvantaged groups, such as the aged, the disabled, or the female-headed families before the Crisis, families headed by working-aged and non-disabled adults have represented a larger portion of the entire poor since the Crisis. The higher overall poverty rate in 1998 mainly resulted from the rapid increase in the number of the unemployed and the high poverty rate of their families. In 1999, the larger number of the unemployed poor exited from poverty by getting a job in the labor market, contributing to the reduction in the overall poverty rate. The significant number of families headed by working adults were poor in 1998, and the size of these working poor was not reduced in 1999. The poverty among this group has been caused by lowered wage rates and deteriorating job security. The findings from this study suggest that anti-poverty policies in Korea be improved to provide better income and employment assistance to the non-working poor and, more importantly, be extended to effectively reduce poverty among the working low-income families.