COVID-19 and Household Income Inequality: Focused on the Role of the Income Security System and Disaster Relief Funds

Abstract

This study analyzed the distinct effects of the existing income security system and discretionary measures on the impact of COVID-19 on household income to identify the mid-term impact of COVID-19 and evaluate the role of the income security system. To this end, the 2019 and 2020 data of the Survey of Household Finances and Living Conditions were used to decompose the welfare resilience index by income source and analyze the impact on household income by employment pattern. Firstly, considering the average change over the year when the spread of COVID-19 repeatedly fluctuated, self-employed and non-regular households saw their market income decline. Secondly, market income played the most important role in stabilizing income, and the role of the income security system and discretionary measures was limited. Thirdly, in the case of households of self-employed people who were particularly vulnerable, the existing system only absorbed 5.3% to 26.7% of the income shock. Finally, the income of poor households was not only relatively free from the COVID-19 shock but also improved overall by adding the effect of disaster relief funds.