Research project Korean Social Policy from Comparative Perspective

A comparative research project on social policy and social development in East Asian countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia. Previously, the welfare state research neglected East Asian countries or treated as deviant due to the lack of comparable data. To overcome this problem, the project creates East Asian Social Policy Dataset (SPEAD) using the framework of Social Policy Indicator Database (SPIN). The new dataset enables systematic research that compares the role of social policy in social development and political and social underpinnings of policy change in Korea with that of Europe, North America, and other East Asian countries. The empirical studies focus on 1) the welfare state, redistribution, and income inequality, 2) work-family policy, female employment, and fertility, and 3) pensions, demographic ageing, and old-age poverty. This project is a three-year project since March 2020.