Dynamics of Asset Poverty in South Korea

Studies of economic insecurity tend to focus on changes in incomes and transitions in and out of income poverty. Yet family economic conditions are shaped by more than just income. Levels of assets and wealth, and changes in these over time also play a role. To identify which groups of the poor have been structurally trapped in poverty over time, using the Korean Welfare Panel Study, we examined the dynamics of asset poverty from 2005 to 2014. We defined three asset poverty lines by operationalizing assets as resources for either future consumption or development. Findings show that asset poverty experience in a previous year significantly increased the probability to incur asset poverty by 5–12% for all analysis samples. In addition, the probability of incurring asset poverty decreased with home ownership, higher disposable income, and greater diversification of the household portfolio. Our findings suggest that the asset poor are likely to fall into structural and persistent poverty over time, and an asset-building approach is needed to improve the asset poverty status of households in South Korea.