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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The continuing importance of children in relieving elder poverty
— evidence from Korea | | Author(s) | Erin Hye-Won Kim, Philip J Cook |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 31, part 6, August 2011 |
| Pages | pp 953-976 |
| Source | http://www.journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Poor elderly ; Finance ; Children [offspring] as carers ; Korea. |
| Annotation | The population of South Korea is ageing rapidly and government provision for older people is meagre, yet little is known about the actual financial status of older Koreans or the amount of economic support they receive from children. This paper addresses these issues using data from the 2006 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The study found that almost 70% of Koreans aged 65 or more receive financial transfers from children and that the transfers account for about a quarter of an average older person's income. While over 60% of older people would be poor without private transfers, children's transfers substantially mitigate elder poverty. Furthermore, children's transfers tend to be proportionally larger to low-income parents, so elder income inequality is reduced by the transfers. Over 40% of older people live with a child and co-residence helps reduce elder poverty. In conclusion, Korean children still play a crucial role in providing financial old-age security. So it is highly important for the Korean government to design old-age policies that preserve the incentives for private assistance. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-110721012 A |
| Classmark | F:W6: WN: P6:SS: 7DK |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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