Time Use and Quality of Life of the Korean Rural Poor

Abstract

In Korea

the income levels and general welfare conditions of rural residents are very low compared with those of their urban counterparts. Particularly since the 1990s

the annual income of rural households has drastically decreased. According to official statistics

the monthly average household income of farm households was 78% lower than that of urban workers’ households in 2005 (KNSO 2006). The statistics also show that this vast difference exists not only between rural and urban areas but within rural areas

as the income disparity between the different classes of rural residents leads to the polarization within the agricultural sector (Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry 2006). Research up to now has generally focused on a comparative study of the poverty of farming households relative to urban households. However

the relative poverty of rural areas should not be simply compared to the poverty in cities

but the internal disparities within the countryside.