Exploring the Impact of Housing Benefits on Housing Quality and Quality of Life for Low-Income Urban Older Households

Background and Purpose:

Stable, affordable housing is critical to the health and well-being of older adults, and many older adults prefer to 'age in place,' that is, to live in their own homes, rather than moving to congregate facilities. Many nations with developed economies will soon be 'super-aged societies,' with more than 20% of their populations over the age of 65 and Korea is one such nation. Understanding housing policies that support the well-being of older adults is essential for global social work.

National housing policies aim to ensure adequate and equitable housing for low-income households. Two major types of housing benefits are provided: direct assistance with rental payments and repair/maintenance benefits. This analysis examines housing quality, equity of housing quality, and the relationship of housing quality and quality of life in a representative sample of low-income households headed by older adults in Korea.

Methods:

This analysis utilized data from the 17th wave of the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS 2022), a nationally-supported representative sample designed to inform national social welfare policy decisions. For these analyses, the sample was limited to heads of household who were 65 and older, with incomes of 60% of median Korean income or less, who lived in urban areas. 1,275 households were included.

Results:

Of the 1,275 low-income, urban households headed by older adults, 336 used rental benefits and only 31 used repair/maintenance benefits. Thus, 28.8% of this population used any type of housing benefits, and 92% of households with housing benefits used rental benefits. Households receiving rental benefits reported significantly lower housing quality (p<.05) and quality of life (p<.01) compared to those not receiving any housing benefits. These differences were further explored with a smaller sample of propensity-score matched sample that controlled for eight demographic variables. Quality of housing was found to significantly predict quality of life across the sample (p<.001).

Conclusions and Implications:

Developing housing policies that permit older adults to age in place, and that protect or enhance their access to stable, affordable housing is an essential issue facing developed economies that are becoming super-aged societies. This exploratory analysis showed a strong uptake of housing benefits overall. Repair/maintenance benefits may become more widely used over time as they become better known, and older adults plan to continue to reside in houses they own rather than seek rental benefits to maintain independence. These analyses also confirmed the importance of housing quality in predicting quality of life.

This study revealed limitations in the housing benefit policy's ability to enhance the quality of life for low-income older households receiving rental benefits in urban areas, suggesting that the policy has unintended impacts on various aspects of their lives. However, it is likely that factors influencing the need for housing benefits but not measured as part of the panel study may drive a lower quality of life, and future studies should be directed toward identifying what factors drive the need for housing benefits and also adversely affect the quality of life.