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Video Description

Type: KIHASA Policy Featurette

Topic: A One-Person Household Is Still A Household in Every Sense

Speaker: Song In-joo, Senior Research Fellow, Seoul Welfare Foundation; Kim Se-jin, Deputy Director of the Department of Social Services Policy Research, KIHASA

Transcript

Narration:

What legal or institutional improvements can be made for middle-aged and older adults living alone who are excluded from policy support?

Song:

There are support centers for one-person households and various institutions that offer assistance for those living alone. But most importantly, I believe that local welfare centers or community centers should play this role. These places should serve as access points where middle-aged and older people can receive counseling and discuss their needs. I also believe that such service delivery channels should be experimented with and run in diverse models and in a very flexible way.

Kim:

Currently, many policies for one-person households focus on vulnerable groups. In my view, we must first recognize the universality of one-person households, and use this recognition to undertake a comprehensive review of social policy. Secondly, we should improve existing policies that are based on traditional household structures. Regarding the marginalization of the middle-aged in policy, I suggest that we consider policies for this group as a form of preventive approach to old age. We need preventive measures to ensure that middle-aged people are no longer excluded from policy and can receive services.