Social isolation and loneliness are emerging as new social risks. Along the pathway from the rise of single-person households and solitary living to lonely death, social isolation lies at the core. This study examines current policies along the pathway through which loneliness deepens social isolation, and proposes policy strategies to address social isolation from a life-course perspective, in which risks and vulnerabilities accumulate across the lifespan.
Missing data is an inherent challenge in the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHPS). Currently, researchers must apply their own criteria for handling the problem of missing data, highlighting the need for multifaceted research.
This study aims to enhance KHPS data quality by analyzing the status of missing data. By examining data collection processes, seeking optimal imputation methods, and evaluating the feasibility of providing imputed data, this research seeks to ensure the provision of more precise and reliable datasets.
Data drift refers to the phenomenon where the statistical properties of the data used to train machine learning models shift over time. This study examines the unique characteristics of various types of data drift and provides a systematic evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different detection methodologies. Furthermore, through simulations utilizing public administrative datasets, the research proposes practical measures to enhance the reliability and sustainability of data-driven governance within the health and welfare domain.
This study examines the validity of disability recognition and explores institutional support measures for people with long-term conditions who experience restrictions in daily activities but are not formally recognised as disabled. Five conditions―epidermolysis bullosa, PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS), brain tumour, HIV/AIDS, and Crohn’s disease―were inductively selected to represent diverse patterns of functional limitation and institutional blind spots. Based on in-depth interviews with individuals living with these conditions, the study argues for the recognition of disability among people with long-term conditions and proposes expanding eligibility for disability-related benefits within the disability registration system.
Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs(KIHASA) and Seoul National University (SNU) organized the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) in 2006. In 2025, the 20th wave of KOWEPS was carried out. The content of KOWEPS is composed of socioeconomic information, welfare status, and attitude toward the welfare or something for individuals and households. The particular topic for this wave is ‘The Disabled’.
This descriptive report provides a wide variety of content about the general features, the economic conditions, the employment status, social security, welfare needs and the special topics for the 20th-year surveys. The results could be reference data for the researchers who would use KOWEPS.
This study evaluated the performance of the Basic Livelihood Security System ten years after its conversion to a tailored benefit system. The analysis shows that while some coverage gaps have been alleviated, further relaxation of asset criteria remains necessary. In addition, reforms are required with respect to the calculation of the median income standard used in benefit determination. The outcomes of self-sufficiency programs in facilitating exits from benefit receipt remain limited, indicating the need for institutional improvements in this area. Looking ahead, preparations are needed for a transition of the Basic Livelihood Security System toward a categorical public assistance system, taking Into account poverty traps and its consistency with other social security systems.
Recently, mental health policies have been shifting away from a focus on treating individuals with mental illnesses toward expanding comprehensive mental health and welfare services for the entire population. This reflects changes in domestic and international policy trends and demands, representing a transition toward recognizing mental health as a societal issue and encompassing a service spectrum that includes prevention, early intervention, treatment, recovery, and self-reliance support.
Accordingly, securing the workforce, enhancing their capacity, and establishing a protection system for providing mental health and welfare services have emerged as critical national tasks. However, domestic workforce policies still heavily rely on the training system for mental health professionals, and systems for assessing the scale of the field workforce, improving working conditions, and supporting capacity building remain insufficient. Consequently, this is highly likely to limit the scalability, accessibility, and quality of mental health and welfare services.
Therefore, this study aims to analyze the workforce policies of major foreign countries, comprehensively diagnose the issues within the current domestic situation, and derive improvement tasks for mental health and welfare service workforce policies that are suited to the context of South Korea.
Using data from the 2024 National Family and Fertility Survey, this study conducts an in-depth empirical analysis of marriage and childbirth in Korea by examining individuals’ values, gender roles within couples, life-course regional mobility, reproductive health experiences, childcare costs and government support, and the use of work-family balance programs. It also assesses how recent revisions to the survey enhance the ability to capture diverse family forms and fertility-related behaviors, and discusses implications for improving both family and fertility policies as well as the future design of the National Family and Fertility Survey.
Amid rapid transformations in the socioeconomic landscape, societal demands for the support of vulnerable youth have intensified, underscoring the growing need for comprehensive health protection targeted at this population. In particular, reliance on “average” health indicators or implicit assumptions that young people are uniformly healthy risks obscuring the heterogeneous and often cumulative health challenges experienced by youth situated in structurally vulnerable circumstances. Such reductive perspectives hinder the identification of health disparities that remain concealed beneath aggregate measures. In recent years, the need to identify and support diverse subgroups of vulnerable youth―including young caregivers, youth transitioning out of institutional care, and socially isolated or socially withdrawn youth―has become increasingly salient. Against this backdrop, the health sector must respond through strengthened policy initiatives aimed at the systematic identification of vulnerable youth and the provision of preventive, continuous, and needs-responsive health support.
The KHP provides not only information on health care utilization and expenditures, but also various factors affecting health care use such as socioeconomic characteristics, comorbidities, and health behaviors. This report includes descriptive statistics on comorbidities, healthcare utilization and expenditures, patient experiences, unmet health care needs, and health behaviors of 11,528 individuals from 5,427 households in 2023. This report provides empirical evidence to better understand healthcare utilization and expenditures of Korean population.
