Panel Analysis of Low-Income Elderly-Headed Household: Empirical Evidence for Chia-Yi County in Taiwan

Abstract

This study is an expansion of a panel investigation on Chia-yi County's low-income households and used panel data of low income households gathered in Chia-yi County to carry out the research. This study points out that different stages in life have different risks of poverty. The quality of a person's economic condition in life exhibits a M distribution pattern with the risk of poverty highest among children, new parents and the elderly. It can be understood from the panel study on Chia-yi County's low-income household that elderly-headed households account for the highest percentage among low-income households. The studies also pointed out that among the Country's low-income household heads, a big proportion of this is the elderly household heads hence the average age of low-income households is higher. Based on domestic studies, the function of the age variable in breaking free from poverty may be because the age of low-income household heads is inclined to be high, resulting in the low-income households breaking free from poverty because of death. Result from the analysis of this study's panel data which was based on the characteristics of low-income elderly household heads and households, a large number of elderly household heads have low educational attainment, are either widowed or unmarried, and are sick. While in terms of household characteristics, the households have low income, are single person households and have only a few family members and low working capability. In addition, based on the analysis of the life table, while a quarter of elderly low-income households end their poverty spell will in two years, most households need to go through a prolonged period of poverty before they end their poverty spell and oftentimes the factor that ends their poverty spell is death.