Social Participation among Senior Citizens in Korea: With a Focus on Household Income Level and Sources of Income

Abstract

Social participation is still an unfamiliar concept for most Korean senior citizens. It may be a natural phenomenon as South Korea has long been in the upper ranks when it comes to poverty rates and income inequality among the elderly. Poverty is closely linked with social exclusion, and it can be challenging for the economically disadvantaged elderly to take part in social participation. The international community takes notes of social participation, and views it as a way of optimizing opportunities for active aging and contributing to society in a positive way. Many studies focus on positive effects of social participation, there is a lack of studies showing the effects of income inequality on social participation. For data analysis, this study conducts a second data analysis using data from the sixth (2016) wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) created by the Korea Labor Institute to compare the impact of different income sources on formal (an engagement in an association or club) and informal social participation (casual meet-ups with a person whom one with close with or group of friends) of higher-income earners and lower- income elderly. Though it is plausible that interest in social environment can be one of main determinants that influence an individual's social participation, differential possessions of resources such as time, money and special skills can serve as an alternative explanation to justify differences in social participation. The results of this study show that the earned income and the time one spends that result in high income have a positive (+) relationship with formal social participation, whereas the earned income and time one spends that result in low income have an negative (-) outcome regarding social participation. This suggests that working and the earned income of the elderly in the higher income bracket can be an incentive for social participation for the elderly in the higher income bracket, but not for the low-income elderly. The result also indicates that passive income has a positive effect on social participation. This study illuminates the need to establish policy frameworks that reflects senior citizens values and their resource distribution process based on those values.