• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.147-174
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• 2007

This study examines how path dependency of working poor labor market segmented from the primary and the secondary labor market affects employment and quality of employment of working poor. It Further examines how path dependency makes working poor to remain in the labor market and makes it difficult for them to escape from a vicious poverty cycle. Data is based on the $3{\sim}7th$ Korea Labor and Income Panel Study(KLIPS). Markov's transition probability and discrete-time hazard analysis are used for analysis. This study finds that Korea labor market is divided into three parts; the primary labor market, the secondary labor market and the working poor labor market. The proportion of employed poor has been reduced, but the proportion of non economically-active working poor has been increased and has become the main group among the working poor. This shows that labor demand of working poor is fundamentally lacking and there are structural barriers that block working poor's employment itself. The regression analysis shows that the longer working poor labor market participation is, the lower poverty-exit rate. This is an evidence of vicious poverty cycle that the poor have little chance to exit from working poor labor market, once they step into it. Therefore, the longer their participation in poor labor market, the more likely they would move only within the closed working poor labor market. Consequently, it is necessary to fundamentally reform labor market structure and to alleviate negative perception and discrimination about the poor labor while activating labor demand.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.55-77
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• 2008

After the economic crisis of Korea, the character of Korean Poverty has changed. Most notably, many people are working but poor. Therefore it is important to understand the characteristics of the working poor, especially the unstable work experiences of the working poor since one of the causes of poverty is that. Prior research about the working poor has not fully proven this issue. This study is to examine the job sequences of the working poor. Thus I utilized the KLIPS(Korea Labor and Income Study), and analyzed it by event sequence analysis and optimal matching methods. The job sequences are divided as follows: total years of working in the labor market, the number of gaps and the length of gaps in their careers, and the characteristics of experienced jobs since they have entered the labor market from age 15. As a result, there are no statistically significant in the total years of working in the labor market. And the number of gaps and the length of gaps in their careers, and the characteristics of experienced jobs show that working poor have been experiencing more unstable than non-poor. Thus, almost all of the male working poor has unstable jobs their whole lives, and the female working poor's job sequences show distinct features according to women's life course. These results can give political implications to the anti-poverty policy in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.313-339
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to analysis empirically the socio-structural causes of working poor. This study used raw data of of Korea National Statistical Office from 1982 to 2004, and put in operation time series multiple regression analysis to use socio-economic factors of macro-economy environment, labor market, distribution system. Contrary to assertion of growth-concentrated people, economic growth rate has had significantly positive effect on the change of working poor size. In the growth period there has been trickle down effect of economic growth, but in the post-Fordism period there has not been valid circular relation. Recent introduction of the U. S. type capitalism resulted in negative phenomenon like aggravation of income distribution, deterioration of employment quality, enlargement of working poor. And there rise a question on socio-economic durability due to de-compensation on intra-institution. It is necessary to grope transition to the high road social market model - that is stable and sustainable - correspond to Korea that is stable and sustainable.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.41-70
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• 2005

The object of the study is to examine the change of social-economic structure and poverty-shape to escape poverty. In Korea, the working poor have been increased by flexibility and division of labor market since the economic crisis in 1997, and are faced with hard conditions due to the vulnerable welfare system. Especially the workers who engage in irregular jobs were increased by restructure of labor market. Besides they are in unstable employment terms such as low payment, low-skill and exclusion from welfare-benefit. Many small independent businessmen are also in danger of poverty for enterprises trend to move abroad by globalization. Poverty policy in our country was focused on the absolute poor class that has relation with old age, unemployment, disable, disease etc, so they were the object of welfare policy. The poverties, however, are increasing rapidly after the economic crisis, and they work so hard but are still poor, that is, participation in labor market doesn't become an element to escape poverty. Thus the emergence of new poverties whose core consists of the working poor becomes to need new poverty policy. The study is to survey change of their economic conditions, their welfare conditions, their experiences and responses of social dangers after the economic crisis, then to explore the policy to escape poverty. As the result of the study, it shows that the working poor experienced many kinds of social dangers like unemployment, decrease of income etc. In their welfare conditions as their responses to the social dangers, the benefit of social insurance, enterprise welfare like legal retirement pay and paid leave and private welfare such as private pension and insurance are low. The working poor are faced with social dangers, moreover, they don't have skill or education for adapting themselves to information society. The study says that it needs variable policies for the working poor to escape poverty, and suggests payment & tax policies as stable income policy, occupational discipline and skill-education for promoting the quality of employment, moreover, social insurance as expansion of social welfare policy and housing & education policies whose objects are the working poor.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.87-101
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to identify the current status of the working poor and the factors that are influential to the working poor among echo boomers. This study is a secondary analysis using the data from the 7th analysis of the 2012 Korea Welfare Panel Survey, conducted by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. This analysis considered Korean echo boomers born between 1979 and 1985. In our final analysis, we used 1,226 echo boomers who had the ability to work. For the analysis, the SAS/PC statistical program ver. 9.3 was utilized. The research findings are as follows; Firstly, of the working poor among the echo boomers, only 22% were in the state of poverty. Secondly, more echo boomers living in a metropolitan city, city, gun/urban-rural area and district than those in the Seoul were categorized as among the working poor; the same was true for those who lived in a free house than in a leased room or a room that was rented by the month. Thirdly, more echo boomers whose education level was high school graduate or less rather than college graduate or less or university graduate or more were categorized as among the working poor; this was also true for echo boomers whose employment type was temporary employment, self-employment, or unemployment rather than a full-time job.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.129-142
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• 2011

This study investigates the patterns of labor market polarization and analyzes the characteristics and roles of regional labor market in the structuring process of the polarization in the metropolitan areas of Korea. The labor market polarization plays a role of key mechanism for deepening social exclusion in the area through expanding low-pay jobs and working poor. It is of great significance to adopt a spatial approach of local labor market in order to understand underlying dynamics of labor market polarization. Especially it is necessary to develop a more differentiated and systematic policy options based on the analysis of labor market polarization in the metropolitan areas of Korea. It is because understanding spatial differentiation of labor market dynamics is essential to figure out the structuring processes of poverty and sociall exclusion in the metropolican labor market in Korea.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.257-279
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• 2012

This study examined how employment status changes affects poverty transition of workable youth using 3years panel data from KoWePS(Korea Welfare Panel Study, 2007-2009). Findings and implications of this study as follows. First, although relative poverty rate of aged 18-34 is lower than other age groups, significant amount of youth experienced poverty once in 2007-2009(14.59%). This means that there are some of youth suffering for poverty and the aspect of youth poverty is very dynamic. Second, much of workable poor of youth had high level of education(45.9% in 2009) and they were unemployed or inactive in labor market(55.3% in 2009). These findings consistent with previous studies of youth poverty or youth employment. Third, workable youth who had changed employment status from employed to unemployed or inactive in labor market were likely to enter poverty and less likely to exit from poverty. Moreover youth who were non-standard employed had more possibility to be poor and less possibility to be not poor. These show that employment instability makes youth vulnerable to economic hardship, poverty. The result of this study suggest that anti-poverty programs which are related with the work-related programs and active labor market policy, should consider workable youth who have high level of human capital comparing other ordinary working poor. Because of much of youth are not poor in fixed time point, they can't be supported from existing social assistance program, like National Basic Livelihood Protection Program. As youth who experienced poverty in changing time need social support to prevent long-term poverty, government should contemplate adopting assistance program for workable poor youth.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.221-262
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• 2018

This study aims to explore life experiences associated with poverty and discrimination in processes of growth, career exploration, entry into the labor market, and career accumulation of the working high school graduate youths. With this exploration, we also intent to grasp their difficulties and needs, thus look for policy tasks for them. The analysis is based on qualitative case study. The results are following. Typical working high school graduate youths choose not to go on to university under the influence of unfavorable economic situation of the original families. They enter the labor market without enough career exploration and try to continue working mainly in low-income and unskilled jobs. They usually work long hours to increase incomes, thus, do not have enough time to invest on their own human resources. They locate in a vicious circle of income poverty, time poverty, and skill poverty, but rarely protected by existing employment and income support programs. It is necessary to improve or introduces policy packages including labor market transition support for the high school graduate, education, training, and career exploration support, income support for the working poor, social network support, and support for reducing the dead zone of social insurances.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.271-297
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• 2005

Since the 1980s, the western welfare states have experienced a wide spectrum of socio-economic changes; changes in population composition, the economic globalization, the post-industrialization, an increasing flexibility in the labor market. etc. This study examines the trend of poverty in welfare states, and analyzes how those socio-economic changes are related to it. For these purposes, this study first calculates the poverty indices for several years in 10 welfare states using the Luxembourg Income Study database, and then decomposes the index by subpopulation and income sources. Major findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First of all, the welfare state in general has experienced an increasing trend in the degree of poverty since the 1980s. In particular, poverty has greatly intensified in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Many other welfare states including Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Norway have also experienced substantial increases in poverty. The increasing trend of poverty is not wholly due to changes in population composition such as increases in the aging population and one-parent(mother) families. Contrary to the traditional belief, these population groups are not as much poor as the working-age population. In particular, the degree of poverty in the elderly is less severe than in the working-age group. Furthermore, since the 1980s the market income poverty in the aging population has shown a decreasing trend in many welfare states. The degree and trend of poverty in one-parent families vary greatly across countries, owing to the labor market and income transfer policies. The most important reason for the increasing poverty trend in the welfare state is that the degree of poverty has been deepening in the working-age population. Especially, the market income poverty of the working-age population has considerably increased in every country except the Netherlands. Structural changes in the economy and the labor market may drive the increasing trend of poverty. Further studies and deliberate anti-poverty policies are needed to tackle the factors relating to the increase in the market income poverty.