■KIHASA held the 14^th Korea Panel Study Conference in conjunction with the Seoul National University Institute of Social Welfare on September 30. In keeping with the Covid-19 social distancing rules, this conference was held online only, broadcast on KIHASA YouTube channel.

■In Session I, there were two presentations for each of the 3 topic areas, including old age, children, and people with disabilities: “Poverty Reduction Effects Housing Pension Has on Current and Future Old Age,” Kim Seonga, associate research fellow of KIHASA; “Factors that Affect Children’s School Adaptation: Children born in the 1990s and 2000s,” Jeong Sun-young, professor of Incheon National University; and “Assessing Causality between Self-respect and Depression of Disabled Children using Autoregressive Cross-lagged Model,” Park Byung-seon, professor of Gangneung-Wonju National University.

■Session I was followed by Opening Remarks by KIHASA president Lee Tae Soo, Congratulatory Remarks by SNU professor Ku In-hoe, and Awards ceremony for outstanding academic papers by graduate students. Next, Ewha Womans University professor Chung Ik Jung gave a special lecture on the topic of “the Use of Target-centered Approach in Panel Study.”

■In Session II, there were two presentations for each of three topics of labor, poverty and social exclusion, and health, including “The Implementation of the 52-hour Workweek Guideline and Labor Supply of Married Couples,” Ham Sun-Yu, associate research fellow of KIHASA; “ Changes in Multi-dimensional Poverty of Youth-Comparison of Poverty of Youth between 2010 and 2019,” Byun Geum-seon, associate research fellow, and Lee Hye-rim, researcher, of Seoul Institute; and “A Path Analysis on Housing Conditions, Self-respect, and Health of the Middle- and Old Aged-Focused on the Difference between the Disabled and Non-disabled,” Jeong Eun-hee, research professor of Seoul National University Institute of Social Welfare.

■In Session III, two graduate students each presented their papers, and a presentation on debt and consumption and two presentations on policy evaluation were made, including “The Impact of Household Debts on Family Conflicts-A Longitudinal Analysis using the 3rd to 15th waves of data of the Korea Welfare Panel,” Park Ho-jun, Seoul National University PhD student, Park Jeong-min, Seoul National University professor; “The Meaning of Space in Causality,” Kwon Hyuk-chang, professor of Kyungsang National University; and “The Impact of Minimum Income on Household Income and Income Distribution,” Kim Hyun-kyung, research fellow of KIHASA.

■The Korea Welfare Panel Study began in 2006 when three separate panels were integrated, including the Rehabilitation Panel, Near Poor and Poverty Panel, and Welfare Panel that KIHASA and the Seoul National University Institute of Social Welfare had been running by then. Since the 1st wave then, it has completed its 16th wave by this year.

●Because the Korea Welfare Panel is a large-scale sample representing the whole country, it has the advantages of a small sampling error and of the possibility of various detailed analyses for different fields of study. In addition, as about half the sample constitutes those making less than 60 percent of the median income, it is suitable for poverty study.

●In addition, as the Panel survey contains questions over a whole range including income, assets, living conditions, and welfare needs, it can be used in various academic and policy studies, including public health, statistics, demographics as well as social welfare and economics.

■In the opening remarks, KIHASA president Lee Tae Soo said, “The prolonged pandemic has made it difficult to conduct social surveys, let alone welfare panel study. I’d like to thank the researchers who have run the panel despite the current difficulties, and in particular, I appreciate the field surveyors who are conducting surveys in the field.” He added, “The Korea Welfare Panel makes possible multidisciplinary research and international comparison, and I hope that the panel can be actively utilized for the development of knowledge and policy through events such as today’s conference. To this end, continuing scientific and systematic collection of data and the participation and affection of experts of various fields are essential.”