• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.183-206
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• 2013

Using Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (wave 1~11) database, this study analyzed the poverty duration of the poor as a whole and by households' characteristics. For this purpose, I first estimated poverty exit rates and reentry rates applying discrete-time hazard model to the sample, and then calculated poverty duration combining these two probability rates. The results show that about a half of poor households are transitory (short-term) poor with 1~2 years of poverty duration. A quarter is chronic (long-term) poor lasting for 5 or more years of poverty duration. The remained quarter can be categorized as the recurrent or mid-term poor. The socioeconomic characteristics of households greatly affect poverty duration. Long-term poverty is prevalent among female-head households, elderly households, single households, or households headed by a person with a lower level of education. If households' heads do not work, or work as temporary or daily-employed workers, the poverty duration tends to be longer. The findings suggest that the poor consist of various social classes with different characteristics. Efficient anti-poverty policy should be based on thoroughly identifying the specific characteristics and needs of each class.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.57-79
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• 2009

This study analyzes the effect of poverty on child development outcomes including academic achievement, self-esteem, depression/anxiety, attention problems, aggression, and delinquency. The poverty experiences among elementary school children are longitudinally observed during 3 years between the 4th grade and the 6th grade. When development outcomes are compared among persistently poor children, transitory poor children, and non-poor children, academic achievement is found to be significantly different. The analyses of the relationships between the poverty status and developmental trajectories show that academic achievement among non-poor children has improved over time, while the level of poor children's achievement has decreased. The result also shows that problematic behaviors such as attention problems, aggression, delinquency has improved over time among all the children. Yet, the gap between poor and non-poor children has not decreased. The multivariate analyses indicate that the effect of poverty remains statistically significant only for academic achievement after children's individual and familial characteristics are controlled. Past experiences of poverty in addition to the current poverty affect academic achievement and persistent poverty has a stronger effect than transitory poverty on academic achievement, although the findings are not consistent across all the estimated models.