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The Welfare State and Redistribution in Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2015

Gyu-Jin Hwang
Gyu-Jin Hwang*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney E-mail: gyu-jin.hwang@sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

This article aims to account for why the redistributive effect of the Korean welfare state remains meagre. Given the fact that its small size is already a well-known factor, it directs its attention to the design and structural features of key social provisions and their distributional profile. Its findings suggest that the design features of social provisions are progressive but their distributional profiles are not. This is because there are other factors that undermine the seemingly progressive design of the welfare system in Korea. The article argues that in order to establish a fair and efficient welfare state, it is not only any increase in size that is important but also correction of the factors that diminish the progressivity of the welfare system.

Keywords

Koreawelfare stateredistributionlabour marketpublic transfers
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , October 2016 , pp. 571 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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