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Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: Why Is the Asset Gap for Single-Parent Families Widening?

Original video: [KIHASA Special] "Not Alone, But Together: Supporting the Lives of Single-Parent Families through Policy"

Related Research Monograph: “Time and Economic Resources of Single-Parent Families and Policies” by Lee Ayoung

https://repository.kihasa.re.kr/handle/201002/47363

Transcript

Research Fellow Lee Ah-young:

The asset gap is so large that single-parent households’ asset level is only a quarter of the average household’s. With an expenditure-to-income ratio of 76.8 percent, these families are effectively trapped in a structure that leaves little room for asset accumulation.

Narrator:

The average age of single-parent household heads is 43.6, indicating that most are in their prime working years. Even so, these households face structural financial vulnerabilities in terms of assets, debts, and expenditure. Furthermore, the high prevalence of low-income status among these families, with some receiving basic livelihood benefits, heightens the urgency for greater support.

So, what policies support single-parent families?

Professor Park Mi-jin:

Support for single-parent families can be broadly categorized into cash assistance and service provision. Of the cash assistance measures, the most prominent is the child-rearing allowance.