Material hardship and depression among lowincome households in South Korea: Differences by household type

With the recent trend of growing poverty in South Korea, low-income households, particularly elderlyand singleheaded households, are at high risk of experiencing material hardship and depression. However, less is known about the association between material hardship and depression by household type in Korea. Using data (N = 2,913) from the Korean Welfare Panel Study and employing several methodological approaches to address the omitted variables bias, this study examined: (i) the association between material hardship and depression among low-income households, and (ii) whether the association differed by household type. We found that experiencing material hardship was associated with a higher likelihood of being depressed. In addition, we also found that the association between material hardship and depression differed by household type. The magnitude of the association was most pronounced in singleand elderlyheaded households. Policy implications to improve well-being among low-income households were discussed. Jaeseung Kim1, Joyce Shim2, RaeHyuck Lee3 1 School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA 2 Graduate School of Social Work, Dominican University, River Forest, IL, USA 3 School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA