Poverty Dynamics and the Use of Social Services Among Older Adults in Korea

 Background and Purpose: With the growing number of older population, the weakened notion of filial piety, which traditionally has played a significant role in Eastern culture in terms of reciprocity between older parents and their children, calls for social attention to financial, caring, and emotional needs in later life. Social service can play an important role in meeting multiple needs in later life. Thus, this study aims to explore Korean older adults’ poverty transition with considering the use of social services related to each dimension of poverty.

Methods: Data and Samples: This study uses Korean Welfare Panel Study that has been conducted annually in nine waves from 2006 through 2014. The number of respondents over 65 years of age available for most of the present analyses is about 4,933. Counting approach is used to understand multidimensional poverty transition and the use of social services among the older population in Korea.

Measures:This study covers five dimensions (indices) of poverty - disposable income (50% of median household income), housing (minimum dwelling standards), health (default of national health insurance and medical expense), social participation (workable poor, leisure satisfaction), and social network (relationship satisfaction) - and three types of poverty - chronic, repeated and temporary based on duration patterns of poverty. The social services are categorized for each dimension of poverty.  

Results: The main result of this study is that income poverty has been the most critical dimension of poverty among the population. From 2006 to 2014, 48%-53% of Korean older adults have lived in income poverty. Poverty rate of health among the population has increased since 2012 (34.1%-37.9%). Poverty rate of social network has decreased from 2006 to 2012 (19.6%-10.4%) but has gradually increased from 2012 to 2014 (10.4% to 11.8%). For the eight years, 64% of Korean older adults have been exposed to chronic or repeated income poverty. Most of the population with chronic or repeated poverty has used at least three types of social services to relieve income (87.2%) or health (77.4%) needs. Of the older adults with chronic poverty, only 12.2% have used social services related to housing and 28.5% have participated in social interaction services.          

Conclusions and Implications: This study provides the evidence that many Korean older adults have been excluded from society in terms of income, health and social participation. These results demonstrate that the Korean government needs to recognize multiple dimensions of poverty and the limitation of social services restricted income security. Considering the fast growing number of older population and being alone without family in Korea, the Korean government should be ready to cope with diverse dimensions of poverty among the older adults. For example, it is fundamentally important to recognize older adults' potential to contribute to their community and their productivity in the labor market. Additionally, policy makers also need to develop long-term policies in health care and social inclusion among Korean older adults.