Previous research has identified a distinctive East Asian model of income protection for disadvantaged children. In the wealthier East Asian societies, relative poverty rates are similar or lower than those in many Western European societies, but income transfers are low and market incomes (including private transfers) are relatively high. This chapter compares the family circumstances and household 'income packages' of disadvantaged children in Japan, Taiwan and (South) Korea with those in selected other OECD societies using data from the Luxembourg Income Study and national data sets.We look at poverty rates and the incomes of the poorest one-fifth of children in each society. In cross-national context, poverty rates are generally low in these three countries, despite low social transfers. Demographic factors (low fertility, small family size and parental age) play a significant role in this outcome -though they are also constraints in their own right. High rates of parental employment are also important.
Working poverty and anti-poverty policy in Four East Asian societies. In I. Ku & P. Saunders (Eds.), Poverty and inequality in East Asia: Work family and policy (pp.14-37). Santa Barbara,
This study compares poverty among older adults in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan with that in selected Western societies and explores factors contributing to these high levels of poverty among older adults from a comparative perspective. Lower education levels of older people contribute to high poverty among East Asian older people while multigenerational living arrangements work toward lowering the poverty rate. Among income sources, low levels of income from public transfer programs account for high oldage poverty although high levels of market income and private transfer income partly offset this among older people. Meanwhile, taking account of financial assets and home ownership does not change the comparative features of high old-age poverty among East Asian older people. Our analyses suggest that the future prospect of economic well-being among older people in the region largely hinges on the further development of welfare state programs for older people.
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