Korea Welfare Panel Study Research Articles

How housing welfare policies impact housing cost burdens: An analysis of housing welfare policy efficacy and household characteristics

Excessive housing costs not only cause housing problems but also various social problems. To remedy the increasing burden of housing costs, South Korea has implemented several housing welfare policies. Previously, housing welfare policies focused on housing supply. More recently, policies have focused more on the expanding housing demand. However, there are insufficient empirical studies that show the effectiveness of demand-focused policies and how they reduce housing cost burdens. This study aims to examine the impact of South Korea's housing welfare policies that focus both on supply and demand on housing cost burdens. To examine the effectiveness of housing welfare policies, data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study were analyzed, and households were examined by income level. Results indicate that both supply-focused and demand-focused housing welfare policies had significant effect on reducing housing cost. The housing allowance policy, a demand-focused policy, showed an effect as time passed and the allowance amount increased for all households and low-income households. Rental deposit loan support significantly increased housing cost burdens for high-income households, which may be attributed to how households upgrade to better housing environments with rental deposit loan support. Based on these findings, this study presents policy implications for housing welfare policies.

Development of a prediction model for the depression level of the elderly in low-income households: using decision trees, logistic regression, neural networks, and random forest

Korea is showing the fastest trend in the world in population aging; there is a high interest in the elderly population nationwide. Among the common chronic diseases, the elderly tends to have a high incidence of depression. That said, it has been vital to focus on preventing depression in the elderly in advance. Hence, this study aims to select the factors related to depression in low-income seniors identified in previous studies and to develop a prediction model. In this study, 2975 elderly people from low-income families were extracted using the 13th-year data of the Korea Welfare Panel Study (2018). Decision trees, logistic regression, neural networks, and random forest were applied to develop a predictive model among the numerous data mining techniques. In addition, the wrapper’s stepwise backward elimination, which finds the optimal model by removing the least relevant factors, was applied. The evaluation of the model was confirmed via accuracy. It was verified that the final prediction model, in the case of a decision tree, showed the highest predictive power with an accuracy of 97.3%. Second, psychological factors, leisure life satisfaction, social support, subjective health awareness, and family support ranked higher than demographic factors influencing depression. Based on the results, an approach focused on psychological support is much needed to manage depression in low-income seniors. As predicting depression in the elderly varies on numerous influencing factors, using a decision tree may be beneficial to establish a firm prediction model to identify vital factors causing depression in the elderly population.

청소년의 학업 스트레스와 진로성숙도

Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore the mediating effect of school connectedness and subjective well-being on the relationship between academic stress and career maturity. Methods This study used data of 325 adolescents who participated in the 16th year of the “Korea Welfare Panel Study(KWPS)” conducted by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs(KIHSA, 2022). The data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and Process macro 4.2(model 6). Results In this paper, findings are as follows. First, adolescents’ academic stress had no significant effect on career maturity. Second, the mediating effect of school connectedness on the relationship between academic stress and career maturity was of significance. Third, there was the significant mediation effect of subjective well-being on the relationship between academic stress and career maturity. Fourth, school connectedness and subjective well-being serially mediated the relation between academic stress and career maturity. Conclusions These results indicate that researchers and counselor have to consider academic stress, school connectedness, and subjective well-being in developing a counseling program to enhance adolescents’ career maturity.

Long-term trajectories of suicide ideation and its socioeconomic predictors: A longitudinal 8-year follow-up study

ObjectiveSuicide ideation is the first stage of suicide behavior, and the long-term course of suicide ideation is highly variable. The aim of this study is to identify trajectories of suicide ideation over an 8-year period and explore the association of socioeconomic status (SES) with suicide ideation trajectories. MethodsWe included 10,017 participants from Waves 7–15 of the Korea Welfare Panel Study; these have data on suicidal ideation (2012–2020). Trajectories analysis was conducted to identify distinct trajectories of suicidal ideation. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations of SES with suicidal ideation trajectories. The interaction effects between current SES and prospective economic condition on trajectories were examined using a synergy index (SI). ResultsWe identified three suicide ideation trajectory groups: low-stable, moderate-decreasing, and high-persistent. Individuals in both moderate-decreasing and high-persistent trajectories had poorer current SES and prospective economic conditions than low-stable trajectories. Interestingly, those reporting poorer prospective economic conditions had a greater risk of being in a high-persistent trajectory than being in a moderate-decreasing trajectory. Further, individuals with poorer current SES and prospective economic conditions were more likely to be in the high-persistent trajectory. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated three distinct trajectories of suicide ideation which provide useful information for specific preventive interventions that could be developed. Moreover, poor prospective economic condition is a significant predictor of the high-persistent suicide ideation trajectory. Supporting economic difficulties and helping make goals and plans to strengthen positive thinking would help attenuate suicidal ideation and prevent suicidal behavior.

Investigating the potential association of temporary employment and job dissatisfaction with alcohol use disorder and depressive symptoms: a 13-wave longitudinal analysis

There has been growing interest in protecting workers' mental health. Identifying social determinants that affect workers' mental health could play an important role in preventing psychiatric diseases. We investigated the effects of temporary employment and job dissatisfaction on alcohol use disorder and depressive symptoms. The Korea Welfare Panel Study data-set (2009-2021) was used, and 9611 participants with 52 639 observations were included. Generalised linear mixed models were employed to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) was calculated to assess supra-additive interactions between temporary employment and job dissatisfaction. Increased risks for depressive symptoms were observed among fixed-term workers (odds ratio 1.12, 95% CI 1.00-1.26) and daily labourers (odds ratio 1.68, 95% CI 1.44-1.95). Daily labourers were associated with an increased risk of alcohol use disorder (odds ratio 1.54, 95% CI 1.22-1.95). Job dissatisfaction was associated with alcohol use disorder (odds ratio 1.78, 95% CI 1.52-2.08) and depressive symptoms (odds ratio 4.88, 95% CI 4.36-5.46). This effect became stronger when workers were concurrently exposed to temporary employment and job dissatisfaction. Daily labourers with job dissatisfaction showed the highest risks for alcohol use disorder (odds ratio 2.99, 95% CI 2.21-4.03) and depressive symptoms (odds ratio 9.00, 95% CI 7.36-11.02). RERIs between daily employment and job dissatisfaction were >0 for alcohol use disorder (0.91, 95% CI 0.06-1.76) and depressive symptoms (3.47, 95% CI 1.80-5.14), indicating a supra-additive interaction. We revealed that temporary employment and job dissatisfaction had detrimental effects on alcohol use disorder and depressive symptoms.

The Effect of Social Pension on Material Hardship among Older Adults in Korea: Regression Discontinuity Estimation

Abstract The goal of this study was to examine the effect of a social pension programme for older adults in South Korea, Basic Pension Scheme (BPS) on material hardship and subjective well-being. We apply a regression discontinuity design (RDD) to estimate the effect of the BPS on the material hardship and life satisfaction of older people between the ages of sixty-one and sixty-eight. Data come from Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) wave 12 survey (2017, N = 3,932). The BPS benefit reduces the risks of housing hardship, bill payment delay and food insecurity. Interestingly, while the effect sizes of the BPS on mitigating the material hardship increase as income decreases, the lower-income groups were less satisfied with the pension provision than middle- and upper-income groups. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on material hardship for older adults in an Asian country facing persistent old-age poverty and immature public pensions.

The efficacy and efficiency of public transfer programmes on the poverty of the older population in South Korea

AbstractThe Korean government initiated a multi‐tiered benefits system for older people, but the relative poverty rate of the older population remains the highest among developed economies. This paper employed the Shapley decomposition and four efficiency criteria to evaluate the anti‐poverty efficacy and efficiency of major public transfer benefits with the Korea Welfare Panel Study 2006–2018. The results present that the Korean public pension exerted the greatest efficacy among the programmes. The efficacy of the Basic Pension, operating as a means‐tested benefit, significantly increased when implemented in 2008 and expanded in 2014. In terms of efficiency, the contributory public pension supported only 40% of older adults in poverty. However, the generous coverage of the Basic Pension since 2008 might have led to more than half of recipients not experiencing absolute poverty. Therefore, this paper concludes with suggestions for more financial support targeting the economically vulnerable.

Factors Influencing Suicidal Ideation According to the Deprivation Indices of Different Regions in Korea.

This study examined how deprivation differed by region and the effect those differences had on suicidal ideation among the local population. Data collected over 10 years (2012-2021) in the Korea Welfare Panel Study were organized into 3 categories: metropolitan, city, and rural. A panel analysis was conducted on the impact of deprivation indices, socio-demographic characteristics, and life satisfaction on suicidal ideation in each category. Income, divorce status, family relationship satisfaction, and medical deprivation had a significant impact on suicidal ideation in metropolitan areas, whereas these variables did not have significant effects in rural areas. In other words, income, family, and medical support were more impactful in city areas. Although the deprivation index was higher in rural areas than in city areas due to an aging population and reduced income levels, the mental health of rural residents was found to be generally better than that of city residents. The possibility that this is related to the strength of relationships within the respective communities should be considered in light of recent discussions on relational welfare.

The Impact of Public Transfer Income on Catastrophic Health Expenditures for Households With Disabilities in Korea.

Previous studies have reported that people with disabilities are more likely to be impoverished and affected by excessive medical costs than people without disabilities. Public transfer income (PTI) reduces financial strain in low-income households. This study examined the impact of PTI on catastrophic health expenditures (CHE), focusing on low-income households and households with Medical Aid beneficiaries that contained people with disabilities. We constructed a panel dataset by extracting data on registered households with disabilities from the Korea Welfare Panel Study 2012-2019. We then used a generalized estimating equation model to estimate the impacts of PTI on CHE. A subgroup analysis was carried out to assess the moderating effects of family income levels and health insurance types. As PTI increased, the odds ratio (OR) of CHE in households that contained people with disabilities decreased significantly (OR, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89 to 0.94; p<0.001). In particular, PTI effectively reduced the likelihood of CHE for low-income households (OR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.81 to 0.89; p<0.001) and those who received medical benefits (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.89; p<0.001). This study highlights the positive effect of PTI on decreasing CHE. Household income and the health insurance type were significant effect modifiers, but economic barriers seemed to persist among low-income households with non-Medical Aid beneficiaries. Federal policies or programs should consider increasing the total amount of PTI targeting low-income households with disabilities that are not covered by the Medical Aid program.

The Effect of Socioeconomic Status to Depression of Perimenopause Women: Pathway Analysis Using the Reserve Capacity Model

Based on the Reserve Capacity Model, this study investigated the effects of pre- and postmenopausal women's socioeconomic status (SES) on depression, focusing on the mediating effects of self-esteem, happiness, and family relationship satisfaction with social network relationships. This cross-sectional study involved secondary analysis of national data on 771 perimenopause women gathered from the 16th Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) 2021. A path analysis model was constructed to evaluate the relationship between SES, social network satisfaction, self-esteem, perceived health status, and depression. Data were analyzed using ADANCO 2.3.1 and Mplus 8.4. Although SES had no direct effect on depression, it did affect depression through self-esteem, happiness, and satisfaction with family relationships. The findings of this study indicate that perimenopausal women's personal resources-psychosocial variables such as self-esteem and happiness-had a higher effect on depression than tangible reserves like SES. Therefore, interventions for enhancing self-esteem and happiness may prevent depression in perimenopausal women effectively.

Multidimensional housing insecurity and psychological health: how do gender and initial psychological health differentiate the association?

ObjectivesDespite compelling evidence for housing-health associations, it is still unclear (1) whether gender differentiates psychological responses to housing insecurity and (2) the extent to which initial psychological health influences the association between housing insecurity and psychological health. The present study aims to reduce these knowledge gaps. Study designWe used data from over 13 waves (155,114 observations) of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. MethodsThis study tests fixed effects models that can take into account measured and unmeasured heterogeneity. Quantile regression with fixed effects was conducted to assess whether the observed association depends on the initial state of psychological health. All analyses are gender stratified. ResultsFixed effects estimates show that housing problems, such as being a renter (b = 0.159), housing cost burden (b = 0.173), and rental/or mortgage arrears (b = 1.194), are significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Similar patterns were observed for poor housing quality (b = 0.598) and a lack of essential facilities (b = 0.286). Although the association between the severity of housing insecurity and depressive symptoms was concentrated among men with initially higher levels of depressive symptoms, the observed association was consistently pronounced for women regardless of initial psychological health. ConclusionsThis study suggests that gender perspectives need to be incorporated into the development of housing intervention for vulnerable groups.

Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms among Korean Adults during the COVID-19: Based on the 2019-2020 Korea Welfare Panel Study

Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms among Korean Adults during the COVID-19: Based on the 2019-2020 Korea Welfare Panel Study

노년층의 사회적자본이 우울감 및 생활만족도에 미치는 영향

The purpose of this study is to compare a difference in social capital according to age by classifying the elderly between the young-old and the old-old and to examine the effect of the social capital on life satisfaction and depression in the elderly. The study constructed using date from the 14th year of the Korea Welfare Panel study and used the method in analyzing 4,186 householders aged 65 to 84 years. By age group, 1,995 people aged 65-74(young-old group) and 2,191 people aged 75-84(old-old group). The main results of this study are as follows. First, the level of social capital, depression and life satisfaction showed a significant difference between the young-old and the old-old group. Second, The Young-old and the old-old group showed a statistically significant effect on job satisfaction, leisure satisfaction, social acquaintance satisfaction of social participation category and family life satisfaction of networks category. The Young-old group showed that the lower spousal relationship satisfaction of networks category, the higher depression and the less satisfied with their lives. Based on these findings, the study explored practical implication of social welfare for life satisfaction improving and depression prevention associated with social capital in old age group. In addition, the limitations of this study and suggestions for follow-up research were presented.

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

AbstractThis 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.

A study on changes in depression types among the widowed older adults in South Korea

This study categorizes the latent class according to the change trajectory of depression types experienced by Korean older adults after the loss of a spouse and examines the determinants that derives each type. Using the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), conducted from 2012 to 2021, data from 518 older adults aged 65 and over whose depression can be estimated for at least three years after widowhood were analyzed. A Growth Mixture Model (GMM) was applied to derive the types according to the changing patterns of depression, and a binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors affecting the derived types. As a result of the analysis, a total of two types were classified according to the change in depression.
 Type 1 was found to be a ‘reducing type’ in which the level of depression gradually decreased while maintaining certain level of depression, and for Type 2, an ‘increasing type’ in which the initial level of depression was higher than that of Type 1 and continued to increase thereafter.
 The older the individual, the more likely he or she is to live in an urban area rather than a suburban area, and if they have disability, the greater the probability that they belong to the 'increasing type' rather than the 'reducing type'. There was no significant relationship between gender, income, or education level and the type. Accordingly, it is necessary to find ways of reducing the likelihood that the depression level of the widowed older adults who fall into the 'increasing type', a risk group.

Factors affecting depression of participants in senior employment: Focusing on the actual status of senior employment projects and social activity support projects

This study aims to relate subjective health and medical expenditure with depression and to secure basic data for a program to manage depression of participants in senior employment based on the surveyed relationship. This study is descriptive research to identify subjective health, medical expenditure, and depression and to examine factors of subjective health, and medical expenditure on depression of participants in senior employment. To this end, 472 people of 60 years or more participated in this study. The household data and household member data were combined based on the data for the 14th year of 2019 and the 15th year of 2020 of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. As a result of this study, participants in senior employment were depressed slightly higher than average. In general features, depression was statistically related to age, presence of partners, and residential type, Furthermore, subjective health was correlated with depression. Factors affecting depression were statistically related to subjective health status and the presence of spouses. From identifying factors affecting depression of participants in senior employment, it is necessary to develop a program to manage depression of participants in senior employment and to explore plans for welfare policy for seniors.

Machine learning prediction of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempt among Korean adults: A population-based study

BackgroundSuicide remains the leading cause of premature death in South Korea. This study aims to develop machine learning algorithms for screening Korean adults at risk for suicidal ideation and suicide planning or attempt. MethodsTwo sets of balanced data for Korean adults aged 19–64 years were drawn from the 2012–2019 waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study using the random down-sampling method (N = 3292 for the prediction of suicidal ideation, N = 488 for the prediction of suicide planning or attempt). Demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial characteristics were used to predict suicidal ideation and suicide planning or attempt. Four machine-learning classifiers (logistic regression, random forest, support vector machine, and extreme gradient boosting) were tuned and cross-validated. ResultsAll four algorithms demonstrated satisfactory classification performance in predicting suicidal ideation (sensitivity 0.808–0.853, accuracy 0.843–0.863) and suicide planning or attempt (sensitivity 0.814–0.861, accuracy 0.864–0.884). Extreme gradient boosting was the best-performing algorithm for predicting both suicidal outcomes. The most important predictors were depressive symptoms, self-esteem, income, consumption, and life satisfaction. The algorithms trained with the top two predictors, depressive symptoms and self-esteem, showed comparable classification performance in predicting suicidal ideation (sensitivity 0.801–0.839, accuracy 0.841–0.846) and suicide planning or attempt (sensitivity 0.814–0.837, accuracy 0.874–0.884). LimitationsSuicidal ideation and behaviors may be under-reported due to social desirability bias. Causality is not established. DiscussionMore than 80% of individuals at risk for suicidal ideation and suicide planning or attempt could be predicted by a number of mental and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. This finding suggests the potential of developing a quick screening tool based on the known risk factors and applying it to primary care or community settings for early intervention.

Longitudinal Effects of Health Status on Changes in the Use of the Elderly Long-Term Care Insurance System of Older Adults in Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal effects of health status on changes in the use of long-term care insurance for the elderly.Methods: The total subjects included 4,110 people aged 65 or over who responded to the 12th and 15th surveys of the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Frequency analysis, x2 test, correlation, and multinomial logistic regression were applied.Results: First, the group using the long-term care insurance system for the elderly was classified into ‘continue not using’ (88.8%), ‘new use’ (6.9%), ‘continued use’ (3.1%), and ‘discontinue use’ (1.2%). Second, examining the determinants of changes in the use of the elderly long-term care insurance system, when older adults were older, and when their depression was higher, it was highly possible for them to use the elderly long-term care insurance system. Also, the elderly in single households were more likely to belong to the ‘continuous non-use’ group.Conclusion: Older adults in the group of continuously using the elderly long-term care insurance system showed negative physical health status, mental health, and family relationship health compared to other groups. The elderly households composed of elderly couples were more likely to not use the elderly long-term care insurance system.

Determinants of Housing Outcomes and Housing Expenditure in Non-Seoul Metropolitan Area and Seoul Metropolitan Area

This research aims to explore the commonalities and distinctions of housing outcomes and housing expenditure between non-Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) and SMA, and to identify the determinants of residential assessment and housing expenditure. Using two waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), this longitudinal study revealed that ageing and shrinking household size in two areas rendered a growing number of elderly, single-person, and female-headed households. The statistical findings showed that educational attainment of householders, labor force participation rate, and household income in SMA were higher and household size was larger than in non-SMA. As the ageing of non-SMA was faster than that of SMA, socio-economic disparities had widened over time. Further, substandard or inadequate housing conditions largely declined in non-SMA, and income growth backed by the rise in dual-income households enabled Chonsei tenants in SMA to move upward in the housing ladder, increasing satisfactions with housing and residential environment which were explicitly affected by such residential environment attributes as family life, social network and income. It’s notable that the dependence on social services in strong favor of cash transfers dramatically increased, and income became an important factor in predicting housing expenditure.

A Study on the Relationship between Depression Change Types and Suicide Ideation before and after COVID-19.

Background: The purpose of this study is to explore and categorize changes in depression, and investigate the relationship between suicidal ideations before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: In this study, data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS) was used and included 8692 adults, 19 years of age or older, who could estimate the change in depression from 2017 (12th) to 2021 (16th) for final analysis. Depression change was classified into two types, ‘low-level ascending’ type (n = 7809, 80.9%), and ‘increasing after reduction’ type (n = 883, 10.2%). The Firth Method was used to examine the relationship between depression change types and suicidal ideation. Results: The lower the equivalized annual income and the lower the educational level, and the likelihood of belonging to the ‘increasing after reduction’ type, compared to the ‘low-level ascending’ type, the greater the probability of having suicidal ideation. Conclusion: The significant impact of socioeconomic status (income and educational background) on suicidal ideation indicates the need to consider how epidemics affect inequality in society. This study is expected to provide a deeper understanding of depression, as well as to establish a foundation for long-term prevention of the rapid increase in suicide rates after COVID-19.