title: Public Pensions as the Great Equalizer? Decomposition of Old-Age Income Inequality in South Korea, 1998-2010.
abstract: This study examines the redistributive effects of public pensions on old-age income inequality, testing whether public pensions function as the "great equalizer." Unlike the well-known alleviating effect of public pensions on old-age poverty, the effects of public pensions on old-age income inequality more generally have been less examined, particularly outside Western countries. Using repeated cross-sectional data of elderly Koreans between 1998 and 2010, we applied Gini coefficient decomposition to measure the impact of various income sources on old-age inequality, particularly focusing on public pensions. Our findings show that, contrary to expectations, public pension benefits have inequality-intensifying effects on old-age income in Korea, even countervailing the alleviating effects of public assistance. This rather surprising result is due to the specific institutional context of the Korean public pension system and suggests that the "structuring" of welfare policies could be as important as their expansion for the elderly, particularly for developing welfare states.
authors.affiliation: a Research Professor and BK21PLUS Young Research Fellow, Department of Sociology , Chung-Ang University , Seoul , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Jae
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000145:classification / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D010415:Pensions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012179:Retirement / Q000191:economics; D012943:Social Security / Q000639:trends; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000639:trends; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Income inequality; South Korea; old-age income; population aging; public pensions