유동자산빈곤 가구의 규모와 결정요인 탐색 = Exploring the Scale and Determinants of Households in Liquid Asset Poverty

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study explores the scale and determinants of households in liquid asset poverty in South Korea, based on the recognition that holding sufficient liquid assets has a decisive impact on a household's economic and psychological stability. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the relative characteristics of liquid asset poverty, additional analyses were conducted and compared with results related to income poverty and net worth poverty, as well as low-income households. Using data from the Korean Household Financial and Welfare Survey (2018–2022) and employing panel logistic regression, the main findings are as follows. First, as of 2022, the proportion of households in liquid asset poverty was 16.7%, which exceeded that of households in income poverty (12.1%) and net worth poverty (8.4%). Second, while liquid asset poverty can exist on its own, it often coexists with income poverty among the lowest-income (first-quintile) households, and with net worth poverty among households in the second quintile and above. Third, liquid asset poverty was more prevalent among households with younger heads of household, those whose head had at most a high school education, those with unemployed household heads, and those already experiencing income or net worth poverty. In the lowest-income households, the influence of living in monthly rental housing was particularly pronounced. Based on these findings, this study suggests expanding financial capability-building programs, introducing emergency savings accounts, and increasing public housing benefits to more realistic levels as measures to prevent and mitigate liquid asset poverty.