• 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.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.99-134
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to examine major factors that affect patterns of living arrangements of older Korean noncitizens in the United States using the 1990 8% Public Use Microdata Sample(PUMS). In order to do so, I analyzed the effects of four factors including acculturation(English proficiency and Age at migration), economic circumstances(Personal Income and Supplemental Security Income: SSI receipt), health status(Mobility and Personal care limitation), and the ethnic community. The results show that acculturation and economic circumstances play an important role in determining the patterns of living arrangements among older Korean aliens, whereas the health status and the ethnic community do not show consistent effects. Regardless of marital status, the impact of age at migration is positively associated with solitary living of older Korean noncitizens, though, the effect of English proficiency show the opposite direction in accordance with marital status. That is, among nonmarried elders, those who cannot speak English are more likely to live alone. The case is reverse for married elders. The impact of economic feasibility is also positively associated with independent living arrangements. Those who receive SSI are much more likely to live apart from family, and elders whose annual personal income between $5, 001 and $10, 000 have the greatest propensity of solitary living-a large proportion of their income source is SSI. Individuals who receive SSI are also qualified to collect Medicaid, food stamps, rent subsidies, and other welfare benefits. In a sense, the economic feasibility provided by welfare benefits is the key determinant of independent living of older Korean noncitizens. Therefore, the recent welfare reform which denies legal aliens welfare benefits such as SSI and food stamps will severly affect the present living arrangements of older Korean aliens, and give economic burden to their family member The findings also show that there are significant differences within the elderly Korean Americans in terms of demographics, income, fertility, health status, and patterns of living arrangements by U.S. citizenship status. In particular, after controlling for age at migration as a proxy for acculturation, there is a statistically significant variation in living arrangements between elderly Korean noncitizens and naturalized citizens. For both theoretical and methodological reasons, future research on minority aging needs to investigate the concept of U.S. citizenship status for its impact on patterns of living arrangements among the minority elderly.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.58-81
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• 1987

The purpose of this study is to examine major factors that affect patterns of living arrangements of older Korean noncitizens in the United States using the 1990 8% Public Use Microdata Sample(PUMS). In order to do so, I analyzed the effects of four factors including acculturation(English proficiency and Age at migration), economic circumstances(Personal Income and Supplemental Security Income: SSI receipt), health status(Mobility and Personal care limitation), and the ethnic community. The results show that acculturation and economic circumstances play an important role in determining the patterns of living arrangements among older Korean aliens, whereas the health status and the ethnic community do not show consistent effects. Regardless of marital status, the impact of age at migration is positively associated with solitary living of older Korean noncitizens, though, the effect of English proficiency show the opposite direction in accordance with marital status. That is, among nonmarried elders, those who cannot speak English are more likely to live alone. The case is reverse for married elders. The impact of economic feasibility is also positively associated with independent living arrangements. Those who receive SSI are much more likely to live apart from family, and elders whose annual personal income between $5,001 and $10,000 have the greatest propensity of solitary living-a large proportion of their income source is SSI. Individuals who receive SSI are also qualified to collect Medicaid, food stamps, rent subsidies, and other welfare benefits. In a sense, the economic feasibility provided by welfare benefits is the key determinant of independent living of older Korean noncitizens. Therefore, the recent welfare reform which denies legal aliens welfare benefits such as SSI and food stamps will severly affect the present living arrangements of older Korean aliens, and give economic burden to their family member The findings also show that there are significant differences within the elderly Korean Americans in terms of demographics, income, fertility, health status, and patterns of living arrangements by U.S. citizenship status. In particular, after controlling for age at migration as a proxy for acculturation, there is a statistically significant variation in living arrangements between elderly Korean noncitizens and naturalized citizens. For both theoretical and methodological reasons, future research on minority aging needs to investigate the concept of U.S. citizenship status for its impact on patterns of living arrangements among the minority elderly.

• 한국노년학
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.801-821
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• 2020

There are a number of prior studies on the poverty experience of Korean women, but little is known about the poverty experience of Korean elderly women in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to examine the poverty experiences of Korean elderly women who immigrated to the U. S. Qualitative case study methods were used to achieve these research objectives. Three Korean elderly women living in Oakland of California who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the U.S. federal government were included in the study. The data were collected by conducting a total of six meetings per participant, and the researcher read the consent form directly to the participants and obtained a hand-written signature. The analysis and interpretation began by repeating the interview transcript several times, and the repeated keywords were to be understood in the context, focusing on time, space, and relationships with other people. The contextual understanding of Korean elderly women's experiences in poverty was interpreted in three dimensions: extending poverty in their mother country, double torture as female immigrants, and limiting labor due to aging and diseases. Before moving to the U.S., they had a difficult livelihood by farming and one of them had to live in poverty due to the bereavement to her husband. But even after moving to the U.S., they have continued to live in poverty. As female immigrants with low education and no special skills, they were incorporated into the periphery of the labor market in the industrialized U.S. and were forced to make a living with low wages. Korean elderly women were unable to return to the labor market in the surrounding areas due to aging and diseases, and were continuing their impoverished lives relying on SSI. From the findings, we discussed the role of the Korean immigrants community as a way to improve the quality of life for Korean elderly women in the U.S.