Housing Instability and Health Among Young Adults in Korea

BACKGROUND:

Housing instability is an important social determinant of health. The recession of 2008 has increased strikingly housing instability among young adults in Korea. In particular, the rise in young single person households has been one of the most important demographic shifts and it has been associated to increase in poverty and health inequality. In 2014, approximately 22.9% of young adults live in poor housing in Korea. Housing instability which is defined as high housing costs in proportion to income, poor housing quality, overcrowding, or homelessness (Department of Health and Human Services, 2010), has been linked to multiple negative health outcomes among children and adults (Kushel et al., 2006; Ma et al, 2008).  Due to limited data availability, however, little research has examined housing instability and its health consequences among young adults. This study explores the characteristics of housing instability among young single-person households and its association with health, using data from 2011-2013 Korean Welfare Panel study (KOWEPS). 

METHODS:

A sample of 423 young adults (ages 18-49) living alone which were extracted from the 2011-2013 KOWEPS was analyzed for the study. Housing instability was measured by Rent to Income Ratio (RIR) and average living space per person. Young single-person households were categorized as unaffordable, if they paid rent or spent more than 30% of household income on housing. Young adults living in places less than 31.7‡u were classified as overcrowding. Health outcome was measured by overall health status. Self-reported general health status was categorized as excellent/very good and good/ fair/poor. Additionally, self-reported depression which was assessed by an abbreviated version of Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D) was controlled. A rich set of confounding factors, including socioeconomic, demographic, and geographical characteristics were controlled. Multivariate logistic regression was utilized to estimate the association between housing instability and general health status among young single-person households.

RESULTS:

Descriptive statistics show that average age of young single-person households is 29 and 13% among young adults spends more than 30% of household income on housing. 82% of young single-person households were rented households and 96% were living in metropolitan areas. Multivariate analyses show that young adults spending more than 30% of household income on housing are significantly more likely to be in poor health status. We also found that income and home ownership were negatively linked to be in poor health status. However, we found no evidence that living in overcrowded conditions was linked to an increased risk of being in poor health.

IMPLICATIONS:

Results of the study are broadly consistent with limited previous research showing that housing instability was related to poor general health status among young adults. Our findings imply that public policy interventions need to provide more subsidized housing and services to low-income young adults, in order to promote better health. Although the analysis provides partial evidence of the detrimental effects of housing instability on health status, further research is warranted, given that there is no standard definition or validated instrument to assess housing instability.