Identifying and Explaining Different Poverty Trajectories Using a Group‐based Trajectory Analysis – A Case Study of South Korea

In this study, we propose a group‐based trajectory analysis to examine why and how people fall into and out of poverty despite spiralling public expenditure on anti‐poverty policies. By analyzing the poverty experiences of 1,001 low‐income households between 1999 and 2008 in Korea, we identify five groups based on their poverty trajectories: exiting, declining, slowly rising, rapidly rising and chronic. Household members in each group demonstrate heterogeneous labour market experiences, educational levels and demographic factors. The exiting group has a high proportion of full‐time workers, high school graduates, and younger and male‐headed households, whereas the chronic group has more part‐time workers, high school dropouts, and older and female‐headed households. Among the declining, slowly rising and rapidly rising groups, educational background, age and sex are factors that differentiate the poverty dynamics of household members. Lastly, a number of social policies for helping low‐income households to leave and stay out of poverty are proposed.     

Using Household Expenditure to Develop an Income Poverty Line

Income and expenditure measures are commonly used to establish poverty lines representing, respectively, the availability of cash resources and the standard of living approaches to measuring the extent and composition of poverty. Using UK data we compare these two measures and show how they might be combined. Although overall poverty rates are similar whichever measure is used, the relativities they imply for different types of household differ considerably. There is little overlap between income and expenditure poverty and very few households are both income–and expenditure–poor. The concept of poverty as constraint on choice or constrained expenditure is then defined as the absence of spending on durable goods and luxury items. Using logistic regression, income thresh–olds associated with the observed levels of constrained expenditure are derived for different types of household. Assuming all income is spent, these thresholds define a poverty line below which expenditure is severely constrained. The extent to which social assistance rates limit or prevent household expenditure is also estimated. The method and the estimates illustrate the value of exploring the links between income and expenditure in the measurement of poverty, drawing attention to the limitations of the data, and identifying future research needs.     

Making ends meet: perceptions of poverty in Sweden

During the era after the Second World War, Sweden has built a welfare system based on labor market participation and income maintenance. Low unemployment and decent wages are supposed to guarantee people a labor market income or income maintenance, which in turn should provide a proper standard for everyone. However, a rapid increase in unemployment and economic problems have made the future of the Swedish welfare state more uncertain than ever. These circumstances have, among other things, led to the suggestion that Sweden should abandon the income maintenance policy and create a social policy system with the more limited ambition of guaranteeing everyone a minimum income. In that case, one central question must be answered: what constitutes a decent minimum income in today's Sweden? Where should we draw the poverty line under which people will not be forced to live? These questions are central in the current debate. The consensual poverty line method is used in this article to derive a poverty line relevant for today's Sweden. The results shows that more than every fifth household has an income below the consensual poverty line. That is, they have an income that most Swedes would argue is too low to make ends meet. The level of the consensual poverty line was compared with the National Board of Health and Welfare's guidelines for social assistance. The consensual poverty line was shown to be more generous to small households and the norm for social assistance was more generous to larger households. Finally, the expenditure for guaranteeing all Swedish household a minimum income equal to the consensual poverty line was estimated: more than SEK 25 billion per year. The results in the article casts serious doubt on the ability of the Swedish welfare state to secure a decent income to all citizens.     

Changes in household poverty among South Korean young adults: Decomposition analysis for 1995, 2006 and 2016

This study analysed the causes behind changes in the poverty rate among young South Korean households, using the 1995, 2006 and 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Labour market instability has intensified since the Asian economic crisis of 1997. This has increased the risk of poverty among young people who lack financial assets and must obtain economic security through work. The poverty rates among people aged 18–29 have steadily increased. Using Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, this study evaluated the contribution that characteristics and structure make to poverty rate changes. The study found that the poverty rate was lower in households with a higher level of education and in households with fewer members. The study also found that the poverty rate was higher in female‐headed households and in households where fewer of its members were employed. Furthermore, the poverty rate was found to have increased among the younger population in general. These findings indicate that social policies should take into consideration the changing life circumstances of young adults.     

Economic Well-Being Among Older-Adult Households: Variation by Veteran and Disability Status

This analysis uses data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine whether veteran and disability statuses are jointly associated with poverty and material hardship among households that include an older adult. Compared to households that do not include a person with a disability or veteran, disabled nonveteran households are more likely to be in poverty and to experience home hardship, medical hardship, and bill-paying hardship. Disabled veteran households are not significantly different in terms of poverty, but exhibit the highest odds of home hardship, medical hardship, bill-paying hardship, and food insufficiency. The implications for social work practice are discussed.     

Concepts of poverty and exclusion in Europe

Using subjective materials, the article examines variation in the concepts of poverty and social exclusion in Europe, the aim being to examine both general and individual opinions. According to our first hypothesis, the higher the welfare expenditure is as a percentage of gross domestic product, the less subjective poverty and social exclusion there is. With the exception of Finland, subjective poverty did correlate inversely with social welfare expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product, thereby supporting our hypothesis. Higher social welfare spending does not seem to affect perceived exclusion as much as perceived poverty. Our second hypothesis was that people in countries with low welfare expenditure are more optimistic that both poverty and social exclusion can be reduced. According to the respondents, exclusion and poverty had increased least in the Mediterranean countries and most in countries with high welfare expenditure. The same trend would appear to continue in the expectations for the future.     

Household empowerment as the key to eradicate poverty incidence

The current study aimed to investigate how the household empowerment can potentially reduce the rural poverty incidence. The data were collected through multistage random sampling from the rural households of 24 villages in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 600 households were selected as sample pool. Face‐to‐face interviews with the household heads were conducted. The household empowerment was measured through an index that was adopted from Abrar‐ul‐haq (“An assessment of the role of household empowerment in alleviating poverty in Southern Punjab, Pakistan” (Ph.D. Dissertation), School of Economics, Finance and Banking, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 2017). The binary logit model was used to analyze the impact of household empowerment with other control variables on poverty incidence. The results of the current study confirm the negative nexus between household empowerment and poverty incidence of rural households as the study reported that the probabilities (odds ratio: 0.877) of being poor are reduced by increasing the empowerment (in every aspect, economically, politically, and socially) of the households, and the results are statistically significant at the 1% level of significance. Based on empirical results, this study suggests that household empowerment has significant potential to reduce poverty incidence in the rural areas of Southern Punjab, Pakistan.     

Poverty among households with children: a comparative study of Norway and Germany

The purpose of this study was to compare poverty among lone parent households and couple households with children in Norway and Germany. The study applied three different measurement strategies: income poverty, material deprivation and reception of social assistance. We found that income poverty and material deprivation rates are higher in Germany than in Norway and are also higher for lone parents than for couples with children. Our analysis of the reception of social assistance shows a different pattern in which both Norwegian and German lone parents frequently receive social assistance. The results show that the different dimensions of poverty are not independent of one another, nor do they wholly overlap. Household characteristic variables, factors influencing labour market status and educational levels also seem to influence the risk of experiencing poverty.     

Social income transfers and poverty: A cross‐country analysis for OECD countries

Caminada K, Goudswaard K, Koster F. Social income transfers and poverty: a cross‐country analysis for OECD countries Poverty alleviation is an important policy objective in developed welfare states. This article reports on a study of the association between social transfer policies and poverty. It has been claimed in several studies that based on a simple bivariate approach, high social effort goes along with low poverty levels. Empirical studies have also found that factors such as demographic and economic conditions may also have an influence on poverty, affecting the relationship between social spending and poverty. In the present study, we empirically analysed the impact of social expenditure on poverty for the period 1985–2005, and in contrast to previous research, demographic and macroeconomic differences across countries were controlled for. Quite a strong negative relationship was still found between the level of social expenditure and poverty. Ageing and unemployment rates were found to have some explanatory power but without affecting the association between social transfers and poverty. Thus, the multivariate approach chosen in this study confirms the results of earlier research.     

Tentative evaluation of the impact of public transfers on the dynamics of poverty: The case of Russia

The aim of this article is to offer a dynamic impact analysis of the system of transfers in Russia, based on a comparison of indicators of well‐being measured before and after state intervention. We shall begin by assessing the impact of public transfers on different forms of poverty and demonstrate that, while the system is seeing a fall in chronic and transitional poverty, there is very little movement between categories. We shall then evaluate the capacity of the system to keep non‐poor households from falling into poverty (protection) and to help poor households escape poverty (promotion). Several studies suggest that the Russian system of transfers is well suited to protection but has proved incapable of attaining the goal of promotion. In other words, in its current form it cannot claim to be an effective tool to combat long‐term poverty.     

Who Benefits the Most? The Unequal Allocation of Transfers in the Israeli Welfare State

Objective . This article critically examines contradictions within the Israeli welfare system, and asks how welfare transfers affect poverty for different social groups. Methods . Using data from Israel's 1996 Income Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, the analysis focuses on households with working-age heads, and compares poverty rates, before and after transfers among three groups: (1) recent immigrants; (2) Arabs; and (3) ultra-orthodox Jews ( Haredim ), distinguishing between couple- and female-headed households. Results . The results show that social welfare policy is more effective in aiding recent immigrants, who are entitled to special benefits, than aiding Arabs. The findings also show that transfers have a stronger effect in reducing poverty among female-headed families than among couple-headed families, thus reducing the gap between these two types of households. Conclusions . Israeli welfare policy reduces poverty, but this effect differs substantially by social group. While formally Israel is considered a universalistic welfare state, for historical and ideological reasons certain social groups, such as Jewish immigrants, have been favored and granted extra benefits, while others, such as Arabs, were neglected.     

Poverty of Disability Households and Antipoverty Policies in the United States and Korea

This study compares the income of households with a disabled member to that of households without a disabled member in the U.S. and Korea using secondary analyses. It also compares the income of different subgroups by the types, number, and onsets of disabilities. Finally, it examines the effects on poverty of various income sources, including means-tested cash benefits for disability households.     

The estimates and characteristics of poverty in Kathmandu: What do three measurement standards suggest?

This paper compares poverty outcomes in Kathmandu using absolute income, absolute consumption, and relative income standards and suggests that the extent of poverty in this city can be somewhere between 19 and 44% of the population depending on which standard is used. The characteristics of poverty also vary depending on the poverty standard applied. Nevertheless, all three standards consistently suggest the following poverty characteristics: households with low educational attainment of householders; large household size; residence in north, central, and east locations; temporary dwelling; and the presence of higher number of children younger than 18. These characteristics render some specific policy implications. While the absolute income standard appears to be relatively better at predicting poverty status of households in Kathmandu, which standard policymakers use largely depends on their political preferences and policy goals.     

Public assistance in urban and rural China: A tale of two stories

China's public assistance system has been urban–rural divided ever since its implementation in the 1990s. Despite the intention in recent years to promote an integrated public assistance system, there has been little empirical research that has systematically examined the differences between urban and rural areas. Moreover, research has focused mostly on the Minimum Living Assurance system (“Dibao”), paying little attention to other types of public assistance. This study contributes to filling this gap by analyzing a recent data set collected primarily from two Chinese provinces. The findings show substantial differences in the amount of public assistance received by urban and rural low‐income households, even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors. Compared with urban recipient households, rural recipient households have disproportionally lower public assistance benefits and higher medical costs relative to their household expenditure, which suggests that assistance inadequacy is especially prominent among rural households. Policy implications are discussed.     

The effects of income transfers on poverty reduction in people with disabilities in South Korea

Using a nationally representative sample dataset from the 2016 Korean Welfare Panel Study, we examined the anti‐poverty effects of income transfers in people with disabilities. Our findings indicate that in households with a person with a disability, income transfers decreased by 55.9% and 84.8% of the pre‐transfer poverty rate and poverty gap, respectively. Before income transfers, households with a person with a disability were 1.94 times more likely to be poor compared to those without a person with a disability. When income transfers were offered, the chance of being poor in the disability group was only 1.11 times higher than that in the non‐disability group. Findings from the aggregated data suggest that means‐tested income transfers were more effective in reducing poverty levels than social insurance or private income transfers. At the individual level, the provision of means‐tested programs was also more likely to decrease the likelihood of experiencing poverty than social insurance and private income transfers.     

Inequalities of Gender and Health 1857–1985: A Long‐run Perspective from the Melbourne Lying‐In Hospital Birth Cohort

This paper reviews the Australian historical record in health and gender inequalities since the mid nineteenth century through to the end of the twentieth century, using survival data from an historical cohort of impoverished people born in the Melbourne Lying‐In Hospital between 1857 and 1900. This data reveals the long shadow cast by disadvantage in early life and the critical importance of secure households in supporting infancy and childhood. Above all, the income security and support of mothers, was critical to survival of infants and children, and those households trapped in the casual economy, remained the most vulnerable to premature death. Only the improvements in labour force regulation, government employment and trade education after World War II, broke the cycle of poverty that had persisted in Australia since the earliest days of European settlement.     

Social protection and poverty in Azerbaijan, a low-income country in transition: Implications of a household survey

Using a nationally representative survey, this study examines the performance of social protection in Azerbaijan from the perspective of poverty reduction. Empirical evidence presented suggests that social protection programmes have an important impact on poverty alleviation. However, poverty is still widespread. The findings demonstrate that the current system of social protection has several important limitations. First, a significant proportion of the poor population is not covered by the social protection system. Second, the poor typically receive a smaller share of total benefits than the non-poor. Finally, most social transfers are too small to lift households out of poverty. The current system of social protection in Azerbaijan requires further strengthening. In particular, the government should develop and implement new social assistance programmes specifically directed towards poverty reduction.     

Impacts of off‐farm employment on welfare,food security and poverty: Evidence from rural Vietnam

How off‐farm employment can enhance welfare in terms of food consumption and poverty alleviation is a critical question facing many developing countries. This study addressed that question by pursuing two objectives: (i) to quantify the impact of off‐farm employment on rural households’ welfare, food security and poverty; and (ii) to examine the factors that affect their decision to work off‐farm. Using panel data, we estimated a difference‐in‐difference combined with a propensity score matching model. The findings show that off‐farm employment improves income, ensures food security and contributes to poverty alleviation. The results also show that age, marital status, education, labour, financial capital, land, location, market access and losses from natural disasters are significant contributing factors to the decision to participate in off‐farm employment. The findings suggest that to improve the welfare of rural households, the Vietnamese government should proceed with policies that enhance their opportunities for participation in off‐farm employment.     

The importance of housing costs in cross-national comparisons of welfare (state) outcomes

Mainstream comparative research on welfare policy outcomes has focused mainly on the role of government benefits and resulting distributions of income. From the point of view of the economic well-being of households, it is said that this narrow approach has produced results which have exaggerated the difference between continental western Europe and the New World. It has been argued that, to get fair results, comparative studies of welfare outcomes should take into account the differences in housing policies and structures of tenure. The ownership of private houses is more common in the New World nations than in Europe. Home ownership is thought to improve the economic well-being of the typical poverty-prone group, namely older people. This article tests how the cross-national picture of poverty and inequality changes when we approach the economic well-being of households on the basis of disposable incomes after housing costs instead of the traditional, purely income-based approach. The empirical analysis shows that, instead of vast differences in inequality, poverty and, in particular, old-age poverty, the real differences between Australia and Finland are only modest when housing costs are taken into account.     

Poverty in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Study of Poverty and Female‐headed Households in Jeddah City

This article reports an exploratory study in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia, which assembled data and information from government and non‐governmental organizations about poverty and poverty alleviation policies. A list of poor families which were receiving benefits from the Social Security Department and charitable associations in Jeddah City was constructed, from which female‐headed households were identified and classified depending on the circumstances of the female head. The article describes the social, cultural and demographic characteristics of poor female‐headed households in Jeddah. The article also uses the results of interviews with 13 poor female heads of households to analyse aspects of their everyday lives. This evidence is used to discuss the ability of the Saudi state's income support system to address poverty as the country undergoes economic and social modernization.