The September issue of the Health and Welfare Forum is organized around the theme “Comparing Citizens’ Perceptions of the Changing Social Landscape.” Welfare states around the world, having consistently expanded their social spending and augmented social policies to address various risks that stemmed from industrialization in the 20th century, now, as the 21st century moves on, face formidable challenges to their functions and capacities amid significant social transitions. It is hardly contentious that among the social challenges that most welfare states must address with urgency are those involving population aging, digitalization, automation, climate change, and the green transition. Efforts made in this direction widely vary across countries and regions. These differences can be attributed in large part to how citizens of different places, both individually and in groups, perceive changing social conditions and related policies. Thus, comparative research into how citizens of different countries perceive their changing social conditions is crucial, as it provides valuable evidence for reshaping the roles and policies of the welfare state in times of major social changes. This rationale led KIHASA to form a consortium last year with the Copenhagen Business School, the Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Sussex, and Roskilde University, with the aim of surveying citizens’ perceptions in ten countries regarding the changing social landscape. Questionnaires were constructed, and surveys were conducted in the first half of this year, targeting citizens of Korea, the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Poland. The present issue of the Health and Welfare Forum features three articles comparing citizens’ perceptions in the surveyed countries, with each exploring, based on data gained from the cross-national survey, ‘population aging’, ‘digitalization and automation,’ and ‘climate change and the green transition,’ respectively. We hope that from these articles readers will gain through a comparative social policy lens a better understanding of the current state and characteristic features of the Korean public’s perceptions of these ongoing changes.

In this article, I compared and analyzed public perceptions regarding population aging and pensions in 10 countries, including Korea. Several key findings emerged. First, the perception that an increasing elderly population negatively affects economic growth was strongest in Korea. Second, concerns about the impact of raising the official retirement age on youth employment were notably lower in Korea than in Italy, where labor market participation among older adults was the lowest. Third, there was broad agreement in Korea on the need for pension retrenchment for both current and future pensioners. Fourth, Korea had the highest level of support for raising the official retirement age, likely due to a stronger desire among Koreans to stay in work longer amidst uncertainties related to old age. Lastly, agreement with early retirement was lower in Korea than anywhere else, and the pension reductions incident to early retirement had a minimal effect on decisions about early retirement. These findings suggest that the ways in which different countries manage public pensions in response to population aging differ depending on their socioeconomic conditions and that, for Korea, efforts to improve pension schemes must be supplemented with measures meant to promote the labor market participation of seniors.

Digital transformation is accelerating globally, but there is still a lack of international comparative surveys on how and what citizens think of such changes. This paper compares citizens’ perceptions and attitudes toward digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in 10 OECD countries, including South Korea, and suggests policy implications and future challenges for the country based on the findings. The cross-country comparison reveals that South Korean citizens have relatively high digital competence but are more concerned about their level of proficiency than those in other countries. Additionally, South Koreans are generally more comfortable using a variety of online services and are more positive about adopting and using new technologies, such as generative AI, compared to those in other countries. The survey results also demonstrate that they tend to be less concerned about the need for regulation of such technologies. While anxiety or concern about digital transformation and digital skills can drive growth in South Korean society, excessive competitiveness and competition can lead to increased social costs, expanded conflicts, and a decline in social cohesion. Therefore, to increase citizens’ trust in digitalization and AI technology in South Korea, it is recommended to develop policies that address these factors.

This article examines how Koreans perceive climate change and related policy responses, drawing on data from “Societal Challenges, Public Opinions, and Public Policies in 10 Countries,” a 2024 survey study conducted by de la Porte et al. Given that, as the impact of climate change unfolds over an extended period of time, intergenerational justice has become a topic of global interest, this article explores how public perceptions of climate change and related policies vary across different age groups. Koreans are more concerned about climate change than other social issues, with older Koreans showing even greater concern. While young adults in Korea remain highly concerned, they tend to view themselves as more likely to be adversely affected by carbon reduction policies than older adults perceive themselves to be. Koreans are as willing to slow global warming by reducing their consumption as they are concerned about climate change. In Korea, unlike in other countries, the belief that the older generation is more responsible for climate change―while shared across different generations―is more strongly endorsed by older adults themselves, who are thus highly motivated to make necessary changes. This suggests that Koreans take intergenerational justice seriously in the context of climate change, which creates a favorable environment for developing strategies to address the climate crisis.

Panel surveys are prone to undergoing respondent dropout as the waves progress over time. Panel attrition in effect reduces the representativeness of the sample and can lead to inferential bias and erroneous conclusions, thereby rendering the credibility of the surveys compromised. Therefore, it is important to identify the causes of attrition and hold them in check in advance on an ongoing basis. In this article, I examined data from the 2nd Korea Health Panel Survey and analyzed the characteristics and response types of participating household members. I then statistically explored the effect of each different response-type group from various angles. Based on the findings, I suggest four areas for focused panel management to minimize sample attrition.