South Korea, like many advanced capitalist countries, faces challenges such as demographic changes, immigration, automation, and climate change. The 10-country survey of this study highlights several key findings about South Korean attitudes. First, despite South Korea’s economic success, there is a high level of concern about globalization, which may stem from uncertainties about the future. Second, South Koreans show insensitivity toward immigrants and ethnic diversity, which could lead to social conflicts. Third, despite having strong digital skills, South Koreans are less confident in their abilities and fear job obsolescence due to new technologies. Lastly, South Koreans express significant concern about climate change, though many worry that climate policies could negatively impact political and economic equality.
In this study, the effectiveness of social welfare spending was measured using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis, a method developed in 2000 by the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), a social enterprise investment foundation in the United States. This method is widely used among social impact investors in the United States and Europe, particularly in the UK. The study focused on calculating the SROI for the expansion of public daycare centers, a project funded by national subsidies in the social welfare sector. The analysis revealed that the SROI for the public daycare center expansion project was 1.32 KRW for every 1 KRW invested. This value does not merely represent money but signifies the value expressed in monetary terms. In other words, the value of the public daycare center expansion project is greater than 1, indicating that it holds significant social value.
Concerns about social security finances are increasing ahead of the entry into a super-aging society in 2025. In this report, we conducted an estimation model study to monitor the long-term financial risk of social security targeting the three major social insurances: national pension, health insurance, and long-term care insurance for the elderly. The estimation model is based on statistics published by Statistics Korea, National Pension Service, and National Health Insurance Service. By applying this, the National Pension Service performed financial projections for the old-age pension from 2023 to 2090, and short-term insurance, health insurance and long-term care insurance for the elderly, performed financial projections from 2023 to 2032.
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 is conducted to collect empirical data on the housing and daily lives of North Korean residents to promote inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation aimed at mitigating social disparities on the north and south Korean Peninsula. It represents the fourth year of a mid-term research project attempting to establish and refine a standard living model in North Korea, while simultaneously analyzing the case of China, a leading example of a system transition country in Asia. The research findings indicate that although North Korea has been promoting improvements in people's living conditions under Kim Jong-un's rule, it faces limitations in mobilizing material resources due to international isolation and voluntary border closures following COVID-19. Amid sanctions, North Korea's trade volume has decreased, revealing regional and class disparities in housing, transportation, and leisure usage within the country. Meanwhile, the increase in mobile telecommunications usage demonstrates the potential for internal changes in North Korean society. Looking at the example of China, mitigating internal inequality will be an important task alongside future reforms and opening initiatives.
The life histories of young people in South Korea have changed dramatically in a short period of time, with recent cohorts showing a pattern of decreasing diversity in trajectories, with delayed marriage and childbearing experiences, less stable labor market transitions, and fewer types of full-time caregiving. The survey of transition to adulthood practices and perceptions found shifts in traditional gender role norms and gender awareness gaps, a tendency to find earning activities more rewarding than family caregiving, and gender, regional, and educational differences in perceptions of sexism.
The analysis of perceptions of adulthood found that age does not play a significant role in determining adulthood; prioritization of economic independence and residential separation; the need for more time between economic independence and residential separation and marriage and childbirth; women perceive the age of transition to be somewhat higher than men; and the emergence of “new adults” who do not fully fulfill the transition to adulthood, including economic independence, residential separation, marriage, and childbirth.
A review of international case studies confirms that there are differences in the duration and pathways to adulthood depending on the level of social safety nets. At the policy level, this suggests that policy responses are needed to raise awareness of gender roles in the completion of adult transitions and that social security systems need to be reorganized in a way that is responsive to changes in the life course.
The decade from 2023 to 2032 will be the last period in which the number of females in the prime childbearing age group (31-35 years old) will increase, requiring concentrated policy responses. According to ‘The 4th plan for Ageing Society and Population 2023 Implementation’ of the central government and local governments and the OECD’s Social Expenditure on Family, it is required to guarantee maternity and childcare leave, expand policies from infants and toddlers to all age groups of children, effectively link youth policies with low birth rate response policies, strengthen the role of local governments, and strengthen support for low-income, multi-child, and multicultural households.
For this purpose, we can consider operating a ‘(tentative name) Birth and Childcare Fund or a ‘Future Generation Fund’ for the next 10 years temporarily like the cases of Japan and France. Securing financial resources requires review of the current tax system, social insurance, financial system divided into central government-local government-education office, and financial resource distribution structure.
The system of old-age income security, which is closely linked to demographic change, is a multi-pillar system consisting of the national pension, the basic pension and the retirement pension plan. As the population is expected to age rapidly, even if the current system of income security in old age remains in place, the level of security for current and future generations will differ.
This study forecasts the level of old-age income for each generation, including the national pension, the basic pension and the retirement pension, in preparation for rapid demographic change in the future, and examines the policy direction of a multi-pillar system based on the results of the analysis.
