Is the Basic Income Project Effective in the Crisis of Local Extinction? Focusing on South Korea's Gyeonggi Rural Basic Income Pilot Project

Background and Purpose: Due to structural and demographic changes, many rural areas in South Korea have experienced various crises in social, economic, and spatial aspects. Accordingly, it is urgent to prepare effective alternatives for a sustainable rural society that can resolve these crises and allow residents to continue living. Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province diagnosed the limitations of traditional social policies so far and implemented a rural basic income pilot project with the goal of preventing the extinction of rural areas and enhancing local vitality. In particular, this study examined factors affecting the intention to continue residence in the region by age group, under the assumption that the factors affecting the intention to continue residence in each age group would be different.

Method: As a result of the survey, data was collected from a total of 2,552 residents in the rural basic income pilot project area. In addition, in order to examine the factors affecting the intention to continue living in the area by age group, the data was analyzed by dividing it into three age groups: young people (19 to 34 years old; n=309) and middle-aged people (35 to 64 years old; n=1,173). elderly), elderly (65 years old; n=1,070). In addition, as factors expected to affect the intention to continue residence of residents in the pilot area, this study examined happiness, life satisfaction, health, various social networks, sense of community, inclusiveness, social capital, awareness of basic income, etc. And through several regression analysis models, we analyzed factors affecting the intention to continue living in the region by age group.

Results: The main results derived from this study are summarized as follows. Firstly, factors affecting the intention to continue residence among the youth population in the region include life satisfaction (β=.370, p<.001), network with neighbors (β=.096, p<.05), awareness of basic income (β=. 222, p<.05), and sense of community (β=.084, p<.05). Secondly, factors affecting the intention to continue residence among the middle-aged population in the region include happiness (β=-.030, p<.05), social isolation (β=-.125 p<.001), social capital (β =.209, p<.001), network with family (β=.043, p<.05), awareness of basic income (β=.084, p<.05), and sense of community (β=.084, p <.05). Thirdly, factors affecting the intention to continue residence among the local elderly population include network with family (β=.070, p<.001), network with friends (β=-.097, p<.001), awareness of basic income (β=.070, p<.001), community inclusiveness (β=.206, p<.001), and sense of community (β=.030, p<.05).

Conclusions and Implications: According to the results of this study, the factors affecting the intention to continue living in rural areas were found to be somewhat different by age group. In other words, life satisfaction and relationships with neighbors were significant among the young, while social capital and relationships with family among the middle-aged, and relationships with family, community inclusiveness among the elderly were significantly found. Therefore, in order to prevent the extinction of rural areas and encourage continued residence of local residents, implementing differentiated policies by age group or providing universal basic income to enhance sense of community may be considered.