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Research Paper On Poverty Among The Elderly

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2. The Result of the Research 1) Background Poverty of the elderly is a sensitive political issue in South Korea and it seems to be agreed that welfare policy should address this problem urgently. The average elderly poverty rate among OECD countries is 13.5% while Korea’s rate is 45.1%, 3.4 times higher. Korea’s suicide rate of the elderly is nearly four times the average for OECD countries, with poverty widely understood to be an underlying factors. An effective response to poverty among the elderly requires an accurate determination of which segments of the population are better and worse off. The higher poverty rate among the elderly does not necessarily imply that the same policies should be applied to all of Korea’s elderly. Indeed, …show more content…

This has resulted in severe distortions in support priorities since the actual economic resources of the elderly vary depending on the presence or absence of adult children within household. This suggest a need to account for the economic resources of adult children who are members of the household as a way of gauging the level of actual economic resources while still avoiding the potential pitfalls of the support obligor standards.A more effective policy approach for addressing poverty among the elderly prioritising those with the most urgent need based on accurate assessments of the economic resource of the entire household needs to be taken. 2) Poverty Level among the elderly in Korea Because the Korean pension system is still relatively young and underdeveloped, its elderly poverty rate is higher than in other OECD nations. In most OECD nations, poverty among the elderly dropped sharply as pension systems matured. The rate in Korea is currently much higher than the rates for other population groups. Korea’s elderly poverty rate stands at 45.1% compared to a 13.5%, average for the 30 countries of the OECD. For those countries, poverty among the elderly dropped sharply from the 1980s onward, with the rate for those aged 66-75 falling below that of children and young adults. Social issues such as the high suicide rate among the elderly have led to a widespread perception of the need for a community-level response to poverty among the elderly.

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