KJC Korea
Journal Central

The aim of this article is to examine policy of reduction and exemption of social security contribution(SSC) in Germany and to have the implication for National Pension. Germany and Belgium in Bismarkian welfare states have been executing the policy of reduction and exemption of SSC for some marginalized people. There is refund policy of SSC for low income people in Belgium. Also, this policy is carried out for mini-job or midi-job in Germany. In Korea, the policy is partially executed for some marginalized people in National Health Insurance and National Pension. That is, the policy of reduction and exemption of SSC has been carried out for different target groups among marginalized people in OECD countries. Thus, in new social risks and recent economic crisis, the policy of reduction and exemption of SSC in Germany suggests that policy of reduction and exemption of SSC for low income people in National Pension will help to expand the coverage of National Pension and strength old- ages income security in the long run.

The study attempts to critically review the concepts and premises of 'new aging' policy narratives specially focused on active aging, successful aging and productive aging. The 'new aging' policy has been vesting large power since the years of 2000 on international directions of aging policy and on national policies and legitimacies as well in the change of contemporary welfare states. However, it is evaluated that the 'new aging' narratives are functioning as a means of social engineering regardless of needs and interests of older people themselves. In particular, the narratives restrict socially valued definition of aging by presenting economic initiatives and normatively narrow standards, which precludes many elders in diverse condition who can not fulfill the standards. Based on the review, several suggestions are presented such as securing the labour right of the elderly based on universal social right, reflecting experiences and needs of the elderly on the formation and decision of aging policy, and pursuing alternative policy narratives on aging. The guiding narratives have a high risk to encroach social rights of the elderly as result.

There happened some problems of pushing out too many care-woker certificates and low quality of care-jobs as the long-term care insurance started since 2008 in Korea. There are crises of care workers, mismatches between the increasing demand and diminishing supply in developed countries as well. The most important cause is change in age structure of population. The institutions and policies, however, can make differences. Denmark has attained high quality of service and good care jobs by combining jobs with education and training, while France created care jobs for the low-skilled. Korea should be in the middle of Denmark and France because there are large supply pool of latent care-workers and increasing demand for good service quality. We should enforce the minimum standards of education and training system and ensure the minimum of working conditions of care-jobs which require more close and delicate monitoring and evaluation system of government.

The purpose of this study is threefold. Firstly, This study introduces recent academic discussions about the alternative concept of welfare, that is 'social quality.' Secondly, SEM analysis is performed, in which how welfare statuses of Koreans are related to the attitudes towards social quality. Thirdly, in so doing, we try to explore if we can modify or extend the concepts around the welfare state towards a academically more effective ones. According to the SEM analysis, following statistical results are visible. Firstly, the concept of social quality are to be measured by four dimensions of socio-economic security, coherence, inclusion, empowerment. Secondly, the more decent welfare status, the more positive attitudes of social quality. Thirdly, welfare status is negatively correlated with social risk attitudes, and social risk attitudes negatively with social quality. In order to better social quality in Korea, we suggest more serious efforts should be put forward in Korean welfare state. So as to solve individual needs of welfare, we should devise welfare programs by which we can enhance economic and social capital of individuals.

It has long history of discussion on the issue of the characteristics of public housing in the advanced countries. J. Kemeny has defined two types of rental market; unitary rental market system and dual rental market system. M. Harloe also raised issues on public housing system in a different context. Those countries with plenty of public housing stock not only for the lower class were classified as mass model, and the contrary residual model. Public housing which started in 1989 first in Korea is a typical form of residual model as the stock is so small and most residents are from lower income group. In addition many of the stock are for the substitution of the shanty housing which destroyed by urban redevelopment program. Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan City, Oh Se-hoon, however, introduced a new public housing program called shift housing in 2007 which aims at shifting of housing paradigm from ownership to living itself. He pledged to supply as many public housing as possible including for the upper class, which he believes will change the present residualised public housing system to mass model. This paper discussed the possibility and limits of shift housing, and concludes that it is difficult for the new plan to change the characteristics of public housing. First of all the plan itself still falls short of mass model with respect to its quantity. Moreover the accomplishment of the plan is uncertain as it depends much on the housing boomthat already entered to a depressed period. But the shift housing contributed to improve the image of public housing and enhance localization of housing policy.

Parlamentsvorbehlat is a legal term which has originated in Germany. The term means that the assembly should regulate for itself anything which influences the life of citizens and is related with the realization of the basic rights. Democracy principle legitimates the legal term. On the one hand, both Korean and German Judicatures have applied Parlamentsvorbehalt to the matters related to the traditional basic rights such as the right of freedom and the right to own property. On the other hand, only the German Judicature has applied it to the matters related to the social rights. The German Constitution(Grundgesetz) abstractly guarantees the social rights,proclaiming that Germany is a Sozialstaat. Then the German Assembly is to realize the social rights with formulating the German Social Security Acts. It regulates for itself the Acts which influence the life of citizens. It means that Parlamentsvorbehalt is realized in the German Social Security Acts by the German Assembly. Contrary to Germany, Korea concretely declares the social rights in the Korean Constitution. However, the Korean Assembly does not realize for itself the social rights with formulating the social security acts. It only delegates the right to regulate the Acts to the executive. This delegation type violates Democracy principle. The Korean Assembly should control for itself the essential matters of the social security acts related to the social rights. There is another reason why the assembly should regulate for itself the social security acts. When the articles are discussed in the assembly, each party employs those debates as political chances to gain voters. Consequently, it results in the development of the social security programs.

This study aims to analyze the effects of the local governments’ welfare efforts on child poverty by hierarchical generalized linear model using multi-level data of 15 Korean local governments’ social welfare budget DB and KLIPS DB. The ratio of local self-government budget to total budget, the main independent variable, is the proxy of the local governments’ welfare efforts. At the local level, the possibility of child poverty is decreased by the social welfare budget of local self-government (per capita), the ratio of childcare & youth budget of local self-government to total social welfare budget. At the individual (household) level, the possibility of child poverty is decreased if the head of household has higher education level and the household has more earners, however, the possibility of child poverty is increased if the head of household is female or irregular worker. The implication of this study is that local self-governments’ welfare efforts is very important to solve the problem of poverty and inequality, even in the child poverty filed, at this time of decentralized local government system. It should be considered for the central government to subsidize the local governments for to boost self efforts in social welfare considering the local governments’ low self-financing level.

This article investigates the determinant factors of the disparity in poverty incidence between single- and two-parent households in Korea compared to those in the U.S. by using an Oaxaca-type decomposition method. To this end, the paper selects the single- and two-parent households by using data from the KOWEPS (Korea Welfare Panel Study) and the PSID (Panel Study of Income Dynamics). The results of decomposition analysis shows that 34.0% (66.0%) of overall differences in poverty incidence between single- and two-parent households in Korea can be explained by the characteristics coefficients) effect. Likewise, in U.S., effects in coefficients (68.0%) explain the gap in poverty incidence more than effects in characteristics (32.0%). When both characteristics and coefficients effects are combined in two countries, all factors contribute to widening the differences in poverty incidence, except for childcare burden. Especially, holding others constant, three independent variables containing labor force participation status, educational attainment and childcare burden explains much of the poverty incidence gap than any other factors in Korea and U.S. This implies that enhancing productivity of single-parent households by stimulating the labor market participation can have the hugest impact on reducing the poverty gap; therefore, in order to effectively decrease the poverty gap between single- and two-parent households, it is desirable that the top priority should be put on the activation policy, for instance, giving support to better access to employment, education and training in single-parent households.

The aim of the research is to find policy suggestions for the development of long-term care insurance in Korea by examining the theoretical discussion of quasi-markets and critically evaluating the development of quasi-markets in the UK(England). In order to achieve this aim, firstly, the theoretical discussions of quasi-markets are examined in terms of the characteristics and success conditions for quasi-markets. Then, how the UK has developed the quasi-markets is reviewed and then this is critically evaluated. Finally, based on the discussions above, the authors have sought to find policy implications for long-term care insurance in Korea.

This research is intended to suggest the moves to strengthen business of employment for seniors by understanding the subjective awareness types of participating seniors for Senior Employment Promotion Project. This study was conducted targeting 28 of participating seniors, and based on 32 statements selected regarding The Senior Employment Promotion Project, they were classified into groups using Q Methodology. As a result, types of subjective awareness about 'The Senior Employment Promotion Project' of the elderly through Q Methodology were firstly, 'part-time job', secondly 'preparing for old age', thirdly, 'strengthening controling themselves' and fourthly, 'strengthening their abilities'. These results imply that hands-on workers need to discuss their occupation and help them find jobs by building database of the senior employment and by considering their characteristics. Also, training and program to develop and strengthen their abilities are needed for the elderly. In addition, various projects should be developed by reflecting their desires and awareness and they have to be professionally and systematically managed. In conclusion, hands-on workers need to strengthen an education of work's value and meaning for the elderly, their identities and relationships with others so that they can improve their self-esteem.

The relationship between care and justice has begun to attract feministic theorists’ attention. Without neglecting the early feminists' attention on exploitative and suppressive reality that care had brought, feminists have now become interested in how to conceptualize ethics of care with more positive aspects. Along with this issue, feminists have also started to seek ways to suggest alternative society and social policy with regard to ‘care’. While the maternalist approach pays more attention to values inherent in the practice of care and care itself than justice, the liberal approach tends to emphasize justice by focusing on unfairness of the situation where carers(especially women) are constantly exploited and people in needs of care are marginalized. However, separation of views on care and justice is bound to reach the limit in suggesting appropriate social norms and ethics for alternative society. This paper argues that in order to overcome the limitations of dualism of care and justice, care has to be located in the context of power relations at both macroscopic and microscopic levels, and this kind of political ethics only is able to provide alternative norms for care.