Why Do Some People Become Poor? The Characteristics and Determinants of Poverty Entry

누가 왜 빈곤에 빠지는가? 빈곤진입자의 특성 및 요인

By analyzing 1998~2008 Korean Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS), this study examines socio-economic characteristics of people who become poor. The study also explores the reason why they are in the state of poverty. To find determinants affecting poverty entrance, discrete-time hazard models are applied. Major findings are as follows. The socio-economic characteristics driving people into poverty are in the middle way of the long-term poor and the non-poor, combining the characteristics of both groups. This implies that many cases of the newly poor tend to enter and exit from poverty repeatedly. Poverty entry rate was at a high level right after the economic crises, then was a downturn and remained fairly stable since 2000. However, the young, the high-educated, and even the professional are on the rise as a new poverty group. The major reason people become poor is temporary job loss. This factor is confirmed again by multi-variate analyses. In building anti-poverty policies, it is important to distinguish the long-term poor from the short-term poor. For the long-term poor, virtually the only affective policy will be income support. On the other hand, a labor-market strategy for jos security will be more effective for the short-term poor. The characteristics and determinants of poverty entry may affect poverty duration and exit in the future. Future research will be needed to investigate the relationship among these factors.

본 연구는 1998~2008년 한국노동패널자료를 이용하여 빈곤진입자의 사회·경제적 특성 및 빈곤진입의 원인과 그 변화 추이를 분석하였다. 분석결과 빈곤진입자들은 장기빈곤층과 비빈곤집단의 중간적인 특성을 보이고 있으며 다수가 빈곤에의 진입과 탈출을 반복하는 집단으로 추정된다. 외환위기 직후 높은 수준을 보이던 빈곤진입율은 점차 안정화되고 있으나, 전통적인 위험집단뿐만 아니라 청년층과 고학력자, 전문직 등에서도 빈곤에 빠지는 사례가 증가하고 있다. 빈곤진입의 가장 중요한 원인은 실직 및 고용불안정으로 빈곤정책 역시 여기에 초점을 두어야 할 것이며, 빈곤진입의 원인과 특성이 향후 빈곤지속기간과 탈출 가능성에 미치는 영향 등 빈곤의 동태적 측면에 대한 후속연구가 필요하다.