This study has two purposes. First, we analyze changes in the policy environment that Korean society and social policies face or will face. Second, we propose directions and tasks that should be promoted for future social policy.
As part of this study, an expert panel survey was conducted to predict future policy direction and environment, and our keyword analysis of research conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs over the past three years.
The main keywords identified for research direction and task setting were ‘sustainability’ and ‘diversity’. In order to diagnose and set the direction of social policy and the Korean welfare state, government-funded research institutions should be encouraged to engage in collaborative research tasks that can respond to dynamic changes.
After analyzing recent trends in crime victimization among the elderly, attributed to the aging population, this study investigates the current policy landscape aimed at safeguarding elderly crime victims. Its goal is to pinpoint areas within the system that require improvement. Drawing from these insights, the researchers seek to propose strategies to enhance support for elderly crime victims in the context of a society experiencing a growing elderly population, examining these issues through the lens of social policy.
To achieve these research objectives, the study incorporates a thorough literature review, a quantitative analysis utilizing data from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office’s Statistical Analysis on Crime spanning 2000 to 2021, a qualitative inquiry involving interviews with 19 professionals from organizations dedicated to supporting elderly and crime victims, and consultations with subject matter experts.
This study aims to comprehensively review recent evidence on methods for enhancing value measurement in chronic disease management and evaluating patient-centered service models. It aims to grasp domestic and international trends, analyze the value-based outcomes of Korea's primary care chronic disease management pilot project under health insurance, and examine the current operational model's limitations and improvement directions. The study proposes innovation tasks to establish a primary care-centered chronic disease management system as an essential foundation for innovating the Korean healthcare system.
This study proposes a "Social Care Safety Net for Children(SCSC)" to uphold the principle of prioritizing the well-being of children within the evolving policy environment surrounding childhood. The SCSC is conceptualized as a "social care system" supported by the nation, society, and families, collaborating to assist children in the transitional phase where they find it challenging to independently perform daily activities. It encompasses an "organic network" of diverse stakeholders involved in child-related relationships, transcending towards a societal safety net that ensures a social care system for children in our society.
This study aims to develop KIHASA SIM, a dynamic microsimulation model, to assess the effects of public pension reforms. To enhance relevance and accuracy, KIHASA SIM is constructed by extensively updating and reorganizing DOSA, a microsimulation model developed by the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs in 2016. It uses a 2% sample (998,459 individuals) from the 2015 Population and Housing Census data as its base set. The model integrates a wide array of micro-data from Korea to simulate key life events, including childbirth, marriage, divorce, education, earnings, public pension, asset accumulation, and mortality.
We verify the simulation results by comparing them with the income distribution and economic activity transition probabilities observed in the Korean Labor Panel data, confirming their similarity. We also confirm that this model's long-term financial outlook is similar to the results of the National Pension Service's 5th actuarial forecast.
These results underscore the practical utility of KIHASA SIM, demonstrating its capability to provide insightful analyses of the nuanced effects of pension reforms. This validated model is essential for policymakers and researchers in developing informed, long-term management strategies for public pensions.
This study seeks to assess the population impact of cash transfer policies, particularly childbirth grants and farmer’s basic income support scheme using Synthetic Control Methods (SCM). Childbirth grants are evaluated based on the number of births and the fertility rate of married women of reproductive age, while farmer’s basic income support is assessed in terms of the number of farmers. The analysis results indicated an increase in birth rate in Gangwon Province, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Daejeon Metropolitan City following the implementation of childbirth grants, while no significant effect was observed in other cities and provinces. Gangwon Province, Gwangju and Daejeon Metropolitan City show positive effects despite differences in support levels, with Gangwon Province experiencing sustained increases due to policy changes in subsequent years. However, if some provinces and local authorities exhibited increases in birth rates after the implementation of childbirth support grants, the effect was mostly short-term. The effect of childbirth support funds in local authority showed a similar trend. In local authority in small metropolitan areas where the amount of childbirth support allowance is small, the effect of such funds was found to be minimal. However, in medium-sized cities and rural areas, short-term effects were observed. In the case of farmer subsidies, initial increases are followed by subsequent decreases in the number of farmers, indicating limited long-term effectiveness.
This study aimed to build a database on Korea's income security system based on the problem statement of the first study, Kang, Shin-Wook, et al. (2022), and focused on expanding the outreach of the database by extending the time series and systematizing the method and structure of the database. As a result, the number of detailed projects and characteristic variables (characteristic items) in the DB has been increased, and the relationship between items has been more systematized for easier comprehension and utilization of the database.
This study explored the possibility of building a database for in-kind support systems and tax expenditure systems beyond the scope of income security. If a database is built for in-kind support systems, it would be possible to utilize the same structure as the income security system database, but some items would need to be reorganized and new items would need to be created. Unlike the case of fiscal expenditure projects, tax expenditure projects have unspecified beneficiaries and support amounts determined retrospectively. Therefore, information on the number of beneficiaries and the per capita reduction amount must be provided. It is also necessary to unify the classification system between fiscal and tax expenditures.
Finally, In this study, we used information from the database to build simulated microdata to estimate the distribution of potential beneficiaries of key programs. Simulated micro-data are used to estimate the level of income security benefits that a particular group may receive.
This study examines labour market conditions for the elderly in relation to raising the National Pension's age ceiling to strengthen old-age income security. It also analyses the policy perceptions and preferences of stakeholders, including employers and employees, as well as the potential income security effects and fiscal impacts of raising the age ceiling. The purpose is to provide a basis for a coherent proposal to extend the retirement age.
The results indicate that raising the contribution age for the National Pension is not solely determined by institutional norms but is instead a crucial consideration for the elderly labour market and pension system. While raising the age ceiling can enhance old-age income security, it should be accompanied by policies to support vulnerable labour market groups, such as enhancing contribution support. The effectiveness of these measures varies across groups depending on individuals' work history and employment conditions after age 60.
In order to systematically analyze the phenomenon of internal migration from a demographic perspective and identify its trends, this study constructs a comprehensive understanding of internal migration through the respective approaches of migration flows, migrants, and regions (origin & destination). The overall characteristics of internal migration are analyzed under seven themes. The main findings include the decline in total migration, the actual extent of population change in regions, the characteristics of migration in population crisis regions, confirmation of the cascading migration hypothesis, the gender dimension of rural youth outflows, the evolution of migration in population crisis regions, analysis of the characteristics of migrants moving in and out of population crisis regions, and the aggregate socio-economic impacts of migration on population crisis regions. These findings emphasize that responses to regional population crises have to be based on a comprehensive understanding of population movements and the structure of inter-regional relations.
Based on a literature review, this study examines how women's employment, childbearing, and the relationship between the two have changed. Since the mid-2010s, changes have been observed not only in the fertility rate, but also in the relationship between women's work and childbirth. We also reviewed studies on the impact of work-life balance support policies on female employment and fertility.
