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KMID : 1124020210370040127
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Korean Social Security Studies
2021 Volume.37 No. 4 p.127 ~ p.151
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The Influence of Universal Child Allowance on Mental Health among Mothers with Preschool Children in South Korea
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Lee Rae-Hyuck
Nam Jae-Hyun
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study was to be the first study to examine the influence of universal child allowance (UCA) on mental health among women with children in South Korea. For the purpose, using data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS), this study empirically tested the research question with a difference-in-differences (DID) method with individual fixed effects (FE). Our primary interest is the UCA’s introduction, and the dependent variables are women’s mental health outcomes which were operationalized as three variables: depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. The main findings are as follows. First, the receipt of child allowance did not influence mothers’ depression and self-esteem. Compared with non-recipient mothers, recipient mothers showed lower levels of depression, but it was not statistically significant. Levels of self-esteem were similar between non-recipient and recipient mothers. On the other hand, the receipt of child allowance statistically significantly influenced levels of mothers’ life satisfaction. Compared with non-recipient mothers, recipient mothers showed higher levels of life satisfaction. These results were consistently found in the dose effects. However, such results are a little sensitive to a series of sensitivity analyses. Based on the findings, this study discussed diverse ways to improve the child allowance policy.
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KEYWORD
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universal child allowance, mothers with preschool children, depression, self-esteem, life satisfaction
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