E-grāmata: Korean Welfare State: Social Investment in an Aging Society

"This book examines the evolution of Korean social welfare policy over the last two decades through the conceptual lens of the "Social Investment State" and the special challenges posed from this perspective, particularly in a rapidly aging society. Since the 1990s many of the modern welfare states have experienced a wave of policy reforms seeking to promote labor force participation, human capital, individual responsibility and economic development, while advancing the private delivery of social protection. These reforms were introduced to check the mounting costs of social spending, which between 1960 and 2009 had climbed from an average of 13% -to-almost 30% of the GDP in the developed welfare states of the OEDC countries. The reforms were also triggered by the need to adapt to the competitive demands of markets in the global economy of the 21st century amidst growing concerns that modern welfare states were undermining the work ethic"--

This book examines the evolution of the Korean welfare state over the last several decades and the challenges it currently faces as a rapidly aging society. Since the turn of the 21st century, the Korean welfare state along with the economy has rapidly matured, increasing both the scope of social welfare coverage and the fiscal capacity to pay for these benefits.

The birth and remarkable expansion of Korean social welfare policy over the last several decades has taken place amidst the socio-economic burdens of a rapidly aging society. This book surveys these developments through the analytic lens of the Social Investment State, under which contemporary policies have altered the essential character of the 20th century welfare states, which had provided a counterforce to capitalism. In contrast, the Social Investment State is seen as backing policies designed to advance capitalism by promoting labor force participation, the growth of human capital, individual responsibility and economic development. In examining the modern context and development of the Korean welfare state, this book is divided into three sections that focus on the socio-political evolution, the core policies of the Korean welfare state, and the contemporary policy challenges of Korea's aging society. The first section traces the socio-political evolution of the Korean welfare state over the last three decades. The second section surveys the core policies of the Korean welfare state. The third section explores several key policy challenges encountered by the Korean approach to social investment as it seeks to address the demands of social protection in a rapidly aging society. The volume concludes with a postscript that reviews the contemporary Korean discourse, which goes beyond the social investment state to the political interests in a universal basic income policy.