Multidimensional Poverty among Female Householders in Korea: Application of a Latent Class Model

In this work, we examine poverty among vulnerable Korean female householders using a multidimensional concept with six dimensions: money, health, housing, employment, human relations, and social security. Taking data from the “Korea Welfare Panel Study 2015” by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and the Welfare Research Institute of Seoul National University, we apply latent class analysis to assess poverty among female householders using the Mplus8 software. The poverty indicator correlations are examined with Cramer’s V, and the differences in individual characteristics are analyzed through X² and analysis of variance. The results show that the poor are composed of several groups with different characteristics. We divide the female householders into three main types, all likely to experience poverty in terms of money and employment. However, Type 1 shows a high probability of experiencing poverty in terms of money, employment, human relations, and health; when compared with Types 2 and 3, Type 1 poverty probability turns out to be higher for several indicators. Type 2 shows susceptibility to basic poverty, with a high probability of experiencing poverty in terms of money and employment. Lastly, Type 3 has a higher probability of health poverty than Types 1 and 2.