Intergenerational income mobility and inequality in South Korea

Using data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS), recent trends in intergenerational income mobility were explored, examining the relationship between income mobility and income inequality in South Korea. The study found that the intergenerational elasticity of income is about 0.2 and there is no clear‐cut trend in intergenerational income mobility. In addition, this study showed that there is no systematic relation between rising income inequality and intergenerational income mobility in contemporary Korea. Overall, the results indicate that intergenerational income mobility is irresponsive to the income inequality the respondents experienced growing up. It is assumed that education and welfare transfer programs might offset the consequences of income inequality by leading to upward mobility for children from low‐income households.     

Factors associated with the preventive healthcare service use among older adults in Korea: Focusing on age variation

The importance of preventive health examinations for older adults has been well emphasized due to an increase in chronic diseases associated with age. In this study, we estimated the preventive health examination participation rate and its associated factors among the elderly with specific focuses on the moderating effects between age and socioeconomic status. We used data drawn from the first to sixth waves (4164 people) of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging for the elderly aged 65 and over. A generalized linear model was used to address research questions. The results showed that the participation rate decreased as older adults age. The interaction between age and education was also significant, indicating that older adults with higher education were more likely to use a preventive health examination compared to those with lower education. There were no significant interaction effects between income and age. Based on the findings, implications for theory and practice were discussed with specific focuses on age‐specific approaches in preventive healthcare services for older adults.     

Social participation,health‐related behavior,and depression of older adults living alone in Korea

This study aims to identify the effects of social participation on depression among adults over 60 years old living alone in Korea, focusing on the mediating effect of health‐related behavior on the social participation–depression relationship. The study relies on secondary data analysis using the 6th wave of the Korea Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and structural equation modeling method was employed for analyses. The findings indicate that older adults' participation in religious and social gatherings decreases depressive symptoms. The study also finds that regular eating behavior, drinking, and exercise also act as significant mediators, as older adults' participation in social gatherings is associated with those health‐related behaviors and that they also reduce depression. The results suggest that social participation by older adults who live alone is crucial not only for providing them with support but also for encouraging health‐related activities that can have direct effects on their mental health. Implications for social work practice are also discussed.     

Functional Independence of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in China and South Korea

ABSTRACT

Population aging is occurring at an unprecedented pace in China and South Korea. This study intended to identify and compare factors associated with older adults’ functional status in China and South Korea using data from 2 national surveys. The study sample consisted of adults aged 65 to 79 years old drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (2005; n = 4,898) and the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (2006; n = 4,152). The outcome variable, functional status, was defined as dependence in self-care tasks. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to assess the explanatory contributions of sociodemographics, health conditions, and health behaviors and activities to functional status. These Asian older adults shared certain commonalities in maintaining functional independence in their communities, and absence of diseases and higher cognition were associated with functional independence in both countries. Rural residence and outdoor activity were significant for Chinese older adults; for their South Korean peers, gender, employment status, drinking, and exercise were important. This study adds to a slowly growing body of knowledge of ways to improve the functional independence of community-dwelling older persons in these 2 Asian countries and beyond. More research is needed to identify cross-cultural and/or cross-country differences.     

Income mobility among the elderly in Sweden during the 1990s

Using a large panel dataset, this article investigates the degree of, and explanatory factors for, income mobility amongst the elderly in Sweden during the 1990s. It contributes to literature on welfare indicators for the older population as it supplements the welfare picture of the income adequacy with insights into income certainty during old age. Our methodological approach is to work with the administrative register data for Sweden, and this allows us to use a reliable record of incomes for a large sample of the elderly. Results for Sweden-born and foreign-born elderly persons are analysed separately and compared with corresponding groups of people of working age. Not surprisingly, nearly all of our results indicate that the income of the older population is more stable than that of the working age population, and upward income mobility is not as usual among the elderly as among other groups. The multivariate regression analyses identify several explanatory factors affecting those elderly who experienced income mobility. Most importantly, the death of a spouse increases the probability of downward income mobility, particularly amongst women. These and other findings of this research point to triggers of income poverty in old age that should be taken into account in policies concerned with the level and indexation of retirement income of future pensioners.     

Length of inpatient stays and associated factors among middle‐aged and older adults in Korea

Using a nationally representative sample of middle‐aged and older adults in Korea, this study examined the length of inpatient stays and associated factors. The pooled 2008–2012 data were obtained from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, and study sample consisted of 7,805 individuals aged 50 and older. Guided by the Andersen's healthcare utilization model, latent growth curve modeling was conducted. Study results indicate that the average inpatient stay has slightly increased among middle‐aged and older adults in Korea. Furthermore, the severity of functional disability, the number of chronic health conditions, and the level of depressive symptoms were found to be key factors associated with the length of inpatient stays. In particular, respondents who received federal welfare benefits had longer stays than those who did not receive welfare benefits. Being employed and having private insurance were also found to be predictors of increasing length of inpatient stays. However, marital status was not associated with the length of inpatient stays. By understanding the pattern of inpatient stays and associated factors, policymakers should make an effort to develop innovative cost‐effective healthcare programs.     

The intergenerational transmission of income mobility between mothers and their young adult daughters: The mediating role of their daughters' educational attainment

This study examines whether the daughters' educational attainment mediates the intergenerational transmission of economic mobility between mothers and their young adult daughters. To create mother–daughter dyads, two data sets were combined: The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 for Children and Young Adults (NLSY79 CY). A total of 2,456 dyads were included for analysis. We used a mediation model to explore the relationship between mothers' income and their young adult daughters' income. Mothers' income was associated with their young adult daughters' educational attainment and income. The mediation model indicated partial mediation of the relationship between mothers' income and their young adult daughters' income via their young adult daughters' educational attainment. Addressing issues of income inequality among mothers may serve as a buffer against the low upward mobility across generations for their young adult daughters raised by low-income mothers. It is imperative to provide programs and financial assistance for mothers to bolster their income and thereby their daughters' educational attainment and income in young adulthood and therefore improve economic mobility from mothers to daughters.     

Economic Status,Family Dependence,and Health Outcomes of Older People in Western Rural China

There is a deficiency in empirical knowledge on the physical and mental health of lower-income older people with weak family support in western rural China. To address this research gap, this article uses the data from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey to analyze the disadvantaged situation of older people in western rural China through a regional comparative analysis. Our sample consisted of 7,138 older adults aged 60 or older in eastern and western, rural and urban China. We find that lower personal income is significantly associated with poor physical and mental health. Economic support from families means more for older people when they have a disability related to activities of daily living in western rural China. Fostering stronger family support networks might improve the mental health status of older people in western rural China. Our study suggests a broader scope for the state to play a greater role in economic empowerment and in the development of policies to effectively meet the present and future needs of older people in western rural China or other countries with an imbalance in the distribution of the aging population and welfare resources.     

新农合“病有所医”有无增进农村居民健康？——对住院患者医疗服务利用、健康和收入影响的再审视

中国新型农村合作医疗制度已基本实现农村居民“病有所医”,但其有无明显增进农村居民健康一直存在争议。以往研究多基于2009年之前的数据,忽视不同群体受益程度异质性,本文研究发现,新农合实施有改善农村居民身体健康的作用,但难说能全面增进农村居民健康。即便对健康状况较差、医疗需求较大的住院或被建议住院的人,新农合的影响也比较有限。其中,患病重、年龄大和收入较低的人受益稍大,新农合能显著增进其健康还不增加住院自付支出,且参合时间越长,作用越明显,但健康增进只是缓解病痛。对患病轻和年龄较小者,新农合仅有助于其增加医疗服务的利用。     

Poverty reduction effectiveness of public income transfers in South Korea in the wake of the global financial crises: a panel-data analysis

By using a longitudinal data-set from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study, the present study examines the poverty reduction effectiveness of public income transfers in South Korea from 1998 to 2011. Findings indicate that the average poverty rate fell from over 20% between 1998 and 2000, to 14% from 2001 to 2006, rose to 17% by 2008, and declined to 15% in 2011. However, the poverty-rate reduction effectiveness continuously increased from 5.5% in 1998 to 32.8% in 2011. The poverty-gap reduction effectiveness also improved sixfold from 6.8 to 39.6% over the same period.     

Tenure Differences in Income and Housing Benefit in Later Life

The first half of this article examines the distribution of income among older people in different housing tenures using secondary analysis of the 1988 Family Expenditure Survey (FES). The use of the term “older household” refers to those where the head of household is aged 55 and over. Income has been adjusted in order to take account of the size and composition of elderly households. The second half of the article examines the effects on the distribution of income when the definition of income is widened to include housing benefit. In 1988 the average weekly income of older households who were owner occupiers was twice that of older households who were renters. While the addition of housing benefit to the definition of income has only a marginal effect in reducing income inequality among all older households it had a more significant impact in reducing income inequalities among older renters more of whom, in comparison to older owner occupiers, were located in the lower income groups.     

Longitudinal causal relationship between depression and self-esteem in Korean older adults

This study aimed to examine the longitudinal causal relationship between depression and self-esteem (SE) in older Koreans and analyze gender differences in this correlation. Participants were 4742 older adults aged ≥65 years in baseline 2018 from the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Depression and SE were measured every year from 2018 to 2021. This study estimated causal relationships using the autoregressive cross-lagged model and analyzed gender differences using a multigroup approach. The findings indicate that depression and SE in older adults support the reciprocal causal model, but there are no gender differences. The study recommends that both depression and SE should be considered in the design of social work intervention programs for older adults but can disregard gender differences.     

Importance of pension income of elderly households in Korea and related factors

Utilising the 2014 Household Income and Expenditure Survey of Korea, this study examined the importance of pension incomes for elderly-headed households in Korea and the influence of other income sources and socio-demographic factors on pension income. It was found that 64.8% of those surveyed received pension income, which accounted for 12.4% of total income on average. As age increased, the importance of pension income increased. Pension income receipt and amount were affected by household size, gender, age, educational level and home ownership. Policymakers could use the factors identified in this research to develop effective and selective pension policies.     

Caregiving Load and Respite Service Use: A Comparison between Older Caregivers and Younger Caregivers

Study aims were to explore differences in predictors of respite care use between older (aged 65+) and younger caregivers (aged 18–64 years), and associations between caregiving load and respite care use using multivariate logistic regression analysis and unpaid caregiver (n= 10,500) data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey. Caregiving load comprised number of care recipients, weekly hours in caregiving, and caregiving duration. Variables with a significant association with respite care for older caregivers were female gender, income, and health insurance. For younger caregivers, respite care use associations were with ethnicity, caregiving relationship, education, and availability of substitute help.     

Charity or Entitlement? Generational Habitus and the Welfare State among Older People in North‐east England

Current UK policies aimed at reducing pensioner poverty involve targeting those in greatest need by supplementing their incomes with means-tested welfare benefits. It is believed that such policies provide more resources for those in greatest need. However, non-uptake of state welfare benefits by many older UK citizens exacerbates the widening income gap between the richest and poorest pensioners. We examine the underlying beliefs and discourses among those currently in retirement who lived through a time when welfare programmes had more of a putative abstract universalism than is now the case. Based on the narratives of people aged over 60 in North-east England, we show how the collective forces of structure and individual practice in relation to welfare accumulate over a lifetime and influence the ways in which people interact with the welfare system in later life. We find that the reasons for the apparent lack of agency among older people in relation to claiming benefit entitlements are linked to the particular social, economic and political circumstances which have prevailed at various points prior to and since the inception of the UK welfare state. We argue that the failure of some older citizens to operate as citizen consumers can be conceptualized in terms of a generational welfare 'habitus', the consequences of which are likely to exacerbate inequalities in later life.     

The challenge of keeping Japanese older people economically active

Japanese society faces serious problems due to population ageing. Both the number and percentage of people aged 65 years old and over are increasing. The ratio of those aged 65+ was 17.3 per cent in 2000, but the estimate of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research is that the ratio will become 28.7 per cent in 2025 and will reach 40 per cent in 2050. This article consists of four sections. In the first the characteristics of issues associated with population ageing in Japan are discussed. The actual situations of employment and lives of older workers are introduced. The second section analyses government policies to address the ageing of the population. The Japanese government is trying to address the issue through encouraging older people to work longer. The promotion of efforts to extend longer working lives is discussed. In the third section a rehiring system and two cases of Japanese firms are described. Those enterprises are effectively employing older workers. Their experiences would be interesting for those planning to hire older workers. The last section discusses how to resolve challenges associated with population ageing. It is shown that continuous training is one of the most important ways of keeping older people productive.     

Subjective Social Status,Income Inequality and Subjective Perceptions of Mobility (2003-2013)*

Using a sample of over 90,000 urban and rura1 residents from the Chinese Social Survey (CSS) and China Genera1 Social Survey (CGSS) from 2003 to 2013, we analyzed the structural features and influencing factors underlying subjective social status in China. Our findings indicate that over these years, such identification has consistently assumed the shape of a bowling pin: those who “identify with a low social status” account for more than half of respondents, a much higher proportion than in most countries. At the individual level, the net effect on subjective social status of such objective indicators as education, income and occupation has been relatively small, and lessened over the ten years. The correlation between subjective perceptions of mobility and subjective social status is quite strong, but the upward impetus provided by perceptions of upward mobility weakened over the period. At the macro-level, the tempo of economic growth failed to raise the level of class identification, and income inequality had a markedly negative effect. Our research findings further demonstrate that curbing the income gap and increasing opportunities for mobility are important for raising the level of class identification during the transition period.     

社区特征与中国农村老人的抑郁症状

农村老年人的抑郁水平显著高于城市老人,在极端情况下,甚至表现为自杀行为.通过中国健康与养老追踪调查 (CHARLS) 2011年基线数据,运用分层线性模型 (HLM) 分析村级社区水平的经济、人口、管理、设施、生态环境五个维度的特征对农村老人抑郁症状的影响,发现中国农村老人的抑郁水平具有显著的村间差异.加入村级水平的解释变量后发现,村子的平均收入水平高,村里具有高中学历的人口比例高,村主任的任职年限长以及村里的基础设施水平高,村里老人抑郁水平显著更低;而在工业污染排放中度和严重的村子里,老人抑郁显著更高.进一步的跨水平交互作用分析则探索了村级变量对具有不同个体特征的老人群体的作用差异.研究结果对于农村社区建设的政策发展以及农村老人的抑郁干预提供了实证依据.     

Work and welfare‐state trajectories in Norway over two decades: Has the goal of getting more people into work been achieved?

In this study, we investigated the work and welfare‐state trajectories of three cohorts of middle‐aged Norwegian inhabitants over a period of two decades (1994–2014). The period of this study is particularly interesting because of an extensive welfare reform that was initiated in 2006 and completed in 2011. We addressed two questions: What were the most typical labour market and welfare‐state trajectories for middle‐aged people over the past two decades, and have they changed? Second, did the work and welfare‐state trajectories of a major target group of the NAV reform – adults with a high risk of health‐related exclusion – change during our observation period? Over the period, we witnessed a sharp drop in the number of people in stable employment. Furthermore, rather than solving the problem of permanent health‐related exclusion from the labour market, policy changes have created a new problem by steering people into temporary and less secure income sources from the welfare state.     

Family Disruption and Support in Later Life: A Comparative Study Between the United Kingdom and Italy

Global population aging has led to considerable disquiet about future support for frail older people; however, the determinants are poorly understood. Moreover, most industrialized societies have witnessed considerable changes in family behavior (e.g., rises in divorce and declining fertility). Such trends may have adversely affected the support systems of older people; nonetheless, only recently has research begun to address this issue. Employing data from the longitudinal British Household Panel Survey (1991–2003) and the 1998 Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie "Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell'infanzia," we investigated the association between family disruptions due to divorce, separation, or death and three key dimensions of informal support: (i) frequency of contact with unrelated friends (among all respondents aged 65 years and over); (ii) co-residence with children (among unmarried mothers aged 65 years and over); and (iii) regular or frequent help received from children (e.g., household assistance including care) among parents aged 65 years and over. In addition, we conducted a comparative investigation of the relationship between family disruptions and the use of home care services (i.e., health visitor or district nurse; home help; meals-on-wheels) among parents aged 65 years and over. Our findings suggest that in a culture like the U.K.'s, where relations between kin are primarily influenced by individualistic values, support in later life appears to be primarily related to need, whereas in societies with a strong familistic culture (like Italy's), support is received irrespective of the older person's individual characteristics.