How Did The Accumulation of Private Assets in Korean Society Affect the Welfare Perception Structure?: Focusing on the Relationship Between Attitudes toward Insurance Function, Redistribution and Tax Increases

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between attitudes toward social insurance, redistribution, and tax increase and to classify them into several types. In addition, this study tried to investigate how income, assets, and debts, which have served as functional substitutes for public welfare in Korean society, had an effect on this welfare perception structure. The analysis results are summarized as follows. First of all, as a result of Latent Class Analysis, the welfare perception structure related to social insurance, redistribution, and tax increase can be broadly classified into three types: ‘in favor of social insurance, the redistribution, and tax increase’, ‘against social insurance and tax increase, in favor of the redistribution’ and ‘neither in favor of nor against social insurance and tax increase, in favor of the redistribution’. Concerning a result of multinomial logistic regression analysis to find out the variables that have a significant effect on the probability of belonging to the three latent groups, as income and assets increase, the probability of falling under the group, ‘against social insurance and tax increase, in favor of the redistribution’ increases. Regarding debts, as the debt-to-asset ratio increases, the probability of falling into the group, ‘in favor of social insurance, the redistribution, and tax increase’ increases. These analysis results show that, considering the policy environment at the time the analytical data was created, there was no risk of an economic crisis or a drop in real estate prices, and social risks had to be dealt with at the individual and family level in a situation where the role of public welfare was still limited. It can be interpreted that preference for the role of the state as a welfare provider varies according to the level of asset accumulation.