• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.209-232
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• 2017

This study proposes supplemental security income programs for the elderly to reduce the serious elderly poverty in Korea. The experiences of the supplemental security income programs for the elderly among the developed countries were investigated. Based on this, the Korean supplemental security income models were proposed, and the effects of the programs on the poverty, inequality, and finance were analysed. The results suggest the following implications. First, the supplemental security income programs cover a sizable portion of the elderly in Korea, and reduce substantially the poverty and inequality problems among the elderly. Second, the supplemental security income programs are efficient compared to the increase of the basic pension. Third, the effects were varied among the combinations of the basic pension models and the supplemental security income models. Therefore Korea needs to introduce an adequate policy mix consisting of basic income and supplemental security income programs so as to construct solid basic income security systems for the elderly.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.233-265
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• 2011

Material hardship measures have been used to supplement the traditional income-based poverty measures. Recently poverty researchers have increasingly used measure of material hardship to examine the well-being of low income families. Measuring the material hardship might be useful to a better understanding of the multi-dimensions of the poverty in Korea. Using the data of the Korea Welfare Panel Study(the fourth wave), I examine incidences of material hardship across quintiles of the income distributions and the factors that might affect the experience of material hardship among the poor families. Major findings are as follows. Descriptive results show that nearly one-fifth of all families had experienced at least one of the five material hardships in the year. Those in the bottom quintiles and the poor families are more likely to experience material hardship than the other quintiles and non-poor families. But, incidences of the material hardship in the middle income quintiles and low income families are not a few(18 percent and 37 percent). Logistic regression results show that family-consumption related variables, income other economic resources(asset and public assistance), and household's employment status affect the experience of material hardship among the poor families. But, material hardship among the poor families is not significantly related with family income. These results indicate that material hardship measures are the useful indicators to understanding the multi-dimensions of the poverty in Korea. And they suggest that an extensive reform of the public assistance policy is necessary to relieve the material hardships of the poor in Korea.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.321-336
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• 2017

This study examines the effect of family resources on low-income families by exploring their holistic experience of poverty to the formation of resilience. A grounded theory approach is utilized to structure process from their experience of poverty as well as the use of social welfare services to the formation of resilience. This study targets 17 families involved in the pilot project for the beneficiaries of an asset building program in Seoul. In accordance with open coding and a paradigm model by the result of axial coding, 86 concepts, 23 sub-category, and nine categories are produced. These categories are classified into the causal condition (a tough life due to poverty), contextual condition (being the recipient of an asset building program), intervening conditions (interpersonal resources and effects of accumulated time or experience), central phenomenon (a will to live and overcome poverty), actions/interactions (active behavior and change of attitude), and consequences (change of asset levels and increased efficacy in their lives). The integrating categories identify the core category as 'the process of making a resilient life out of the power to live' and a final process model is organized. The results suggest crucial implications to develop comprehensive policies to address poverty issues for low-income families with a strength-based approach.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.63-73
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• 1995

Absolute poverty is redefined as biological existence level poverty and relative poverty is also redefinded as 'the state that relatively insufficient compared to the specific society's average living standard under the condition that basic needs on the biological existence level has been satisfied.' Then absolute poverty and relative poverty lies on the same welfare continuum. Therefore these two can be regarded as one unified concept. Theoretical bottom line of poverty is the biological existence level and ceiling is average income. Poverty line for the social policy is to be drawn between ceiling and floor. Using these standard lines three poverty bands are categorized : minimum subsistence level, minimum decency level.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.9
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• pp.755-767
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• 2020

The objective of this study is to examine and provide guidelines for regional governments, communities, and the private sector in planning and implementing poverty-reduction activities that are more effective, efficient, and targeted. Besides, this research's specific aims are: 1) increasing the rate of regional economic growth through optimization of potential sources of local income, 2) increasing per-capita income, and 3) reducing poverty, unemployment, and social-economic inequality of the community. The study was conducted in North Morowali District, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, in 2018-2019. The research approach used quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis. Data sources include sources from the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Regional Statistics. The results of this study are based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) indicators that there are four priority scales in poverty reduction, namely, Health and Infrastructure (Priority I), Education (Priority II), Food stability (Priority III), and Population and Employment (Priority IV). Therefore, as a solution to poverty alleviation strategies, the cost approach through regional economic optimization and local income sources and community empowerment factors are essential. Apart from that, the involvement between elements (government, organizations, society, universities, and institutions) is expected to continue as an effort to realize poverty reduction can be optimally overcome.

• Economic Analysis
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.37-66
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• 2021

This paper examines the potential impacts of COVID-19 on poverty in ASEAN countries. The first estimate, adopted from Summer et al. (2020) and Nonvide (2020), configures three scenarios of contractions in per capita household income or consumption; the impact of each scenario on poverty is calculated using poverty lines at different thresholds. In the second estimate, poverty impacts in 2020 and 2021 were projected using regression models controlling for unobserved country effects, unbalanced data, and endogeneity. COVID-19 has been shown to have negative impacts on poverty reduction in the ASEAN Member States. To reduce poverty, concerted efforts are needed to implement policies for reducing income inequality and promoting economic growth. Such efforts will not only speed up the countries' return to pre-pandemic poverty levels but also contribute to further accelerating poverty reduction.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.140-149
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• 2006

Purpose: The current descriptive study examined the health and healthcare status of preschoolers in poverty group compared to those of comparison group. Method: Data were collected from 51 mothers in federal poverty group and 49 in low-income group and 200 mothers in normal income comparison group in one city. The instruments used for this study were Korean CBCL and health related questionnaire. Results: Public assistance group showed more low-birth-weight infants, developmental delay, and hospital admission experiences. Their compliance for vaccination and congenital metabolic disorder test were lower than those of comparison group. Preschoolers' behavior problems were not significantly different depending upon the income of the group. Conclusion: Preschoolers' health and healthcare status are affected by the socioeconomic characteristics of the family. It indicated an need for anticipatory guidance and early intervention that might help to prevent or ameliorate potential health problems in poverty.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.53
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• pp.7-29
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• 2003

This study estimates the effect of economic loss including parental job loss and income loss on adolescents' educational attainment before and after family income and poverty are controlled for. Results from this study show that both parental job loss and income loss are negatively associated with the number of schooling years completed by adolescents and the probability that adolescents would enter a college. The negative relationship between economic loss and adolescents' educational attainment persists after income levels are controlled for. Income levels also have a statistically significant effect on adolescents' educational attainment. Among the various measures of income levels, poverty has an especially larger effect. Although the results are not consistent across estimated models, the effects of parental job loss and income loss are as large as that of poverty. Results for the models separately estimated by the sex of adolescents show that female adolescents are more negatively affected by both economic toss and income levels. There is little evidence that male adolescents are negatively affected by economic loss. Yet, male adolescents are negatively affected by income levels including poverty. Findings from this study suggest that societal support for families experiencing economic loss should be improved to avoid the harmful effect of the loss on adolescents' educational attainment. More targeted efforts should be made to financially support families facing both economic loss and poverty.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.111-127
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• 2011

The study aims to analyse whether Korea and Taiwan have reduced the elderly poverty effectively through income transfer system in a comparative perspective. It covers 12 Western welfare states and 2 East Asian welfare states(korea and Taiwan). Utilising Luxembourg Income Study(LIS) datasets, empirical analyses focus on old-age income mix and poverty reduction effects of income transfer. Major findings are as follows. Frist, whilst public transfer income takes a major part in old-age income mix in Western welfare states, Korea and Taiwan reveal genuine mixed states - i.e., the relative proportion of private transfers and market income are high. Secondly, public transfers have effectively reduced the old-age poverty in Western welfare state. However, thirdly, those effects are still limited in Korea and Taiwan. Rather, the poverty reduction effects of private transfers are relatively high. Based on the empirical findings, the study suggests future research agendas and policy implications.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.48
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• pp.82-112
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• 2002

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.