Welfare Attitude among Koreans: Formation and Change of Cleavage Structure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine how the expansion of institutional welfare over the past 10 years has had an effect on the welfare attitude of Koreans and the subsequent formation and development of a cleavage structure in welfare politics. This research differs from existing research in theoretical and methodological aspects as follows: First, the concept of “welfare attitude” was systematically structured and multi-dimensionally reorganized. Second, through the path analysis and multi-group structural model analysis, we compared the structures of the perception change in the growth period of the Korean welfare state with the same model focusing on social class variables. The analytic data used is the additional survey data on welfare perception of the Korean Welfare Panel(2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019). As a result of the analysis, a systematic and distinct cleavage structure was not visible in the welfare attitude. It has been confirmed that the cleavage of attitudes in Korea’s welfare politics has only recently begun to occur, depending on the class variable. In particular, the social class cleavages have been more visible in recent years in the more active policy awareness that tax increases are needed to expand social welfare, rather than the awareness of the situation on the inequality of our society.