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KMID : 1001320140410030155
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Social Welfare Policy
2014 Volume.41 No. 3 p.155 ~ p.182
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Economic Hardship, Social Welfare and Suicide in Korea
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Choi Yun-Jeong
Park Ji-Yeon
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Abstract
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The income polarization problem has been intensified and the number of people exposed to financial difficulty and suicide risk has been increasing in Korea after the financial crises in 1997 and 2008. Meanwhile, Korea`s suicide rates has remained the highest among OECD countries for ten consecutive years and the number of suicides caused by financial difficulties along with the mounting household debts has increased. However, Korea`s social expenditure relative to GDP is 9.14%, which is quite low compared to that of the OECD average level. Therefore, this paper investigates Korea`s suicide problem from the perspectives of people`s financial difficulties and local government`s social welfare efforts by applying the fixed effect regression to the Korea data of 16 metropolitan cities and providences. As the subject of our interests, the per capita debt from non-bank financial institutions and the per capita social expenditure are used as proxies for vulnerable people`s financial difficulties and government`s welfare promoting efforts. The empirical findings show that male and female suicide rates responded differently to socioeconomic factors. Moreover, the per capita debt from non-bank financial institutions is positively associated with male suicide rates and the per capita social expenditure is negatively associated with female suicide rates. These results suggest that economic supports for people who are exposed to financial difficulties and suicide risk will play a critical role in preventing suicide effectively.
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KEYWORD
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Suicide, Economic Hardship, Household Debt, Social Welfare Expenditure
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