This study aims to examine how middle-aged and older individuals and their households cope with the institutional income gap period―the so-called "income crevasse"―which is lengthening as the pensionable age for the old-age pension under the National Pension scheme is raised in stages, and to identify vulnerabilities in these coping strategies in order to propose policy responses. To this end, this study analyzes, in turn, how they cope through labor market participation, adjustments to household income and expenditure, and the drawdown of assets and the use of debt, and also examines the use of old-age income support programs and the perceptions and responses of those experiencing the income gap.
In countries like the US and France―which deduct allowances that compensate for additional expenses―core veterans' compensation benefits, such as disability pensions, are generally not deducted. By contrast, in countries such as the UK and Australia, veterans’ benefits are either fully disregarded or partially exempted in the means-testing of social assistance.
The treatment of veterans’ benefits within public assistance schemes reflects a complex interplay of factors, including societal perceptions of veterans’ entitlements, the institutional relationship between the social security system and the veterans’ compensation system, and the overall level and structure of benefit provision.
In the Korean context, it is necessary to consider expanding disregards or exemptions in the assessment of the assessed amount of income with respect to certain categories of veterans’ benefits. In particular, this would include: 1) benefits targeted at economically vulnerable veteran groups; 2) payments with an honorific character reflecting service and sacrifice; and 3) allowances of an additional cost-compensatory nature, especially those related to healthcare expenditures.
This study aimed to comprehensively analyze the cyber threats to and current security status of healthcare institutions and, based on this analysis, to derive policy measures to strengthen their cybersecurity. To this end, the study reviewed prior domestic and international research, conducted comparative analyses of policies and systems, examined cyber incident cases, and conducted a cybersecurity survey targeting tertiary general hospitals and general hospitals.
This study proposes the following measures to improve policies for strengthening cybersecurity in healthcare institutions: revising legal and institutional frameworks and improving regulations; enhancing security capabilities in technology and infrastructure; and strengthening governance, information sharing, and incident response systems.
This study examines family formation among young adults in major cities outside the Seoul metropolitan area. It explores how young people envision and pursue family formation under constrained opportunity structures amid ultra-low fertility and youth outmigration. The findings show that economic conditions, such as employment and housing, interact with local cultural contexts, peer influences, and gender disparities in economic opportunities to shape young people’s family formation prospects and practices. In addition, under conditions of pervasive employment instability in regional labor markets, marriage is increasingly reinterpreted as a means of securing stability, whereas childbearing is not.
End-of-life care utilization in Korea remains strongly hospital-centered, and the cost-effectiveness of hospice & palliative care varies by service delivery model, with particularly notable cost savings in home-based services. In this context, if a quality-oriented approach to end-of-life care is insufficient, unnecessary hospitalizations and aggressive treatments may persist, leading to increased inefficiency in healthcare utilization and a structural rise in financial burden. This study provides both quantitative and qualitative evidence to support policy directions for integrating hospice and palliative care into a quality-focused end-of-life care system in Korea.
Responding to population aging requires active corporate participation alongside government policies. As persistent low fertility accelerates demographic aging, corporate engagement has become essential for effective policy implementation.
Based on the Basic Plan for Low Fertility and Aging Society, this study identifies policy tasks requiring corporate involvement through expert Delphi surveys and analyzes participation levels and constraints through focus group interviews with 36 companies.
South Korea is entering a super-aged society at the fastest rate in the world, necessitating a policy shift to address the expansion of the elderly population. While the country has achieved results through the expansion of systems such as the basic pension, long-term care insurance, dementia policies, and employment programmes for the elderly, the legal framework, national plans, administrative organisations, and governance have not been adequately reformed to match this progress, leading to fragmentation among policies and limitations in coordination. In particular, structural issues have been identified, including a limited legal framework centered on the Elderly Welfare Act, the fragmentation of sector-specific laws, overlaps and disconnects among numerous national plans, the absence of a cross-ministerial coordination system, and disparities in capacity across regions. Accordingly, this study analyzes the development process and institutional characteristics of elderly policies, and proposes directions for an integrated overhaul of laws, plans, organizations, and governance to address the super-aged society.
This study explores improvements to the current ‘application-based approach’ in the Korean welfare benefits, prompted by concerns over welfare blind spots. It reviews the legal frameworks of application-based versus ex officio systems, analyzing domestic and international cases like France's “solidarity at source.” The report discusses the transition towards automatic provision of benefits to enhance accessibility and guarantee social rights.
This report examines the need to link and integrate government fiscal expenditure and tax expenditure, focusing on the social security sector, including social welfare and health. It analyzes trends in both types of expenditure in terms of total volume, function, and programs-level allocation.
The analysis reveals that between 2010 and 2025, social security expenditures―both fiscal and tax―grew faster than total government spending. Within this sector, social welfare spending increased more rapidly than health spending, and tax expenditures grew more significantly than fiscal expenditures. These findings suggest that tax expenditure has become an increasingly important policy tool in the social security sector. Specifically, the share of tax expenditure has expanded in areas such as employment and labor, elderly support, and programs for children and families.
In response to challenges such as low birth rates, population aging, and changes in the labor market, future statistical monitoring and policy evaluation of social security tax expenditures should be conducted in conjunction with fiscal expenditures.
The population with migrant backgrounds continues to grow in Korea. Despite these rapid demographic changes, research on the current status of and demand for social security among this population remains scarce. Focusing on public assistance systems for migrants, this study consists of three main components: a theoretical review of migrants' social rights, an international comparison of 12 countries across four welfare regimes, and policy case studies of Japan and the United Kingdom. Based on the analytical results, the study proposes a policy direction that gradually grants public assistance rights to settled migrants.
