The purpose of this report is to produce up-to-date statistics on poverty and inequality, providing relevant data to researchers and policymakers in related fields. Poverty and inequality indicators provide a basis for assessing the size of economically vulnerable groups and beneficiaries of social policies, as well as the performance of related policies. They are also essential for understanding the income distribution structure, a key element in diagnosing social problems in Korea and exploring policy alternatives.
This study provides reliable statistics on key poverty and inequality indicators, along with information for understanding time-series changes in each indicator. It is hoped that this report will serve as a foundational resource for research on poverty and inequality, not only for researchers studying income and asset distribution, but also for policymakers, related professionals, and students.
This policy report aims to support a comprehensive understanding of demographic change in Korea and to continuously produce (and update) foundational data on population dynamics, which serve as the basis for identifying policy needs and assessing the conditions for policy implementation. To this end, the report summarizes recent trends across the major domains of population change, including births and fertility, marriage and divorce, mortality, and population migration, as well as population size and composition, the foreign population, and regional population distribution.
This Social Security Field Monitoring Project, established in 2008, serves as a critical mechanism for evaluating the operational efficacy of social security systems in collaboration with frontline practitioners and policy experts. Entering its seventeenth year in 2025, the project’s institutional significance was underscored by the inauguration of the 10th Expert Advisory Committee.
The 2025 forums focused on four pivotal thematic pillars: (1) housing precariousness and homelessness support frameworks; (2) the current state of public assistance for foreign residents; (3) a comprehensive 25-year retrospective on the National Basic Livelihood Security System; and (4) the transition from application-based welfare toward automated delivery systems. The empirical insights and field-based policy recommendations generated through these forums offers a robust foundation for mitigating welfare blind spots and advancing a more inclusive, high-efficiency social security systems.
This study aims to comprehensively examine the demographic changes and policies of Japan, France, Germany, and Sweden, providing basic data that can be used as a reference for Korea’s population policy. In addition, by reviewing the results of perception surveys conducted among people in Korea and the four countries, the study seeks to derive policy implications.
The key implications of this study are as follows. Future policies should focus on closing gender gaps and creating a family-friendly environment, while easing negative views on childbirth and strengthening practical support. It is important that family-friendly policies ensure not only their existence but also real accessibility and usability. Care policies may be more effective if based on family-led caregiving, with financial and social support provided by society. Lastly, rebuilding social trust and fairness could positively influence attitudes toward childbirth.
In the domain of social welfare, functionally similar programs targeting overlapping beneficiary groups are frequently administered independently across multiple government ministries and agencies. This fragmented governance structure has raised concerns regarding duplication in service delivery and administrative inefficiencies. This study investigates the operational realities of such overlapping initiatives and evaluates the potential for expenditure rationalization through a cost analysis of child care programs―a representative case characterized by recent increases in public funding.
Indicators of poverty and inequality serve as a basis for assessing the scale of vulnerable populations and social policy beneficiaries, as well as the effectiveness of related policies. At the same time, they are essential for accurately understanding the state of income distribution in Korean society, diagnosing its problems, and exploring policy alternatives.
This study provides reliable statistics on key indicators of poverty and inequality, along with information that enables the identification of their trends over time. It is intended to serve as foundational data for research on poverty and inequality, benefiting not only researchers studying income and wealth distribution, but also policymakers, related experts, and students.
This policy brief applies the basic framework of KIHASA's pilot project for population change monitoring, first implemented in 2022, to produce and interpret key indicators related to main factors of population change, including childbearing, death, migration, marriage, divorce, population growth, composition, the foreign population (multicultural families), and spatial distribution.
This policy brief highlights that demographic changes are not merely statistical trends but fundamental factors that can deepen our understanding of the challenges facing Korea and inform the review of policy demands.
