Abstract
We examine the economic well-being of the Korean elderly and their reliance on public and private transfers. Underdeveloped public transfer programmes are at the centre of heated political debates, and a better understanding of economic well-being and the relation between public and private transfers will provide further insights in evaluating policy reform proposals under consideration. Using data from the 2006 and 2008 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging organised by the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), we find that the elderly poverty rate between 2006 and 2008 decreased significantly but was still significantly higher than that of other OECD countries. This poverty reduction did not benefit individuals who were older, less educated, living alone, living in rural areas, or in poor health. We find that low-income elderly who co-reside depend almost completely on the income of their children or other household members. Public transfers account for no more than a third of income for low-income elderly, while private transfers account for half. Our analysis suggests that crowding-out is not a real concern in increasing welfare transfers for the low-income elderly.
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Notes
- 1.
And also in 2006 (Lee and Lee 2009).
- 2.
A special-occupation employee, such as a miner or a fisherman, is eligible for a pension between ages 55 and 60.
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Acknowledgements
This project is funded by National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health: P01 AG022481 International Comparisons of Well-Being, Health and Retirement and R01 AG030153 Integrating Informaiton about Aging Surveys.
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Lee, J., Phillips, D. (2012). Income and Poverty Among Older Koreans: Relative Contributions of and Relationship Between Public and Family Transfers. In: De Santis, G. (eds) The Family, the Market or the State?. International Studies in Population, vol 100. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4339-7_5
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