Creating a 'Social Integration Index' to Show the Level of Social Polarization

Development of Indicators to Reduce Social Polarization and Guarantee Minimum Quality of Life
Linking and Utilizing Administrative Data by Sector Including Income, Employment, and Housing

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The government is establishing a 'Social Integration Indicator System' to assess the degree of social polarization and guarantee a minimum standard of living. By linking administrative data, it will be possible to quantify aspects that were difficult to capture with existing statistics.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Education held the 7th Social Relations Ministers' Meeting at the Government Complex Sejong to discuss plans for developing social integration indicators and building a sustainable care system.

The social integration indicator system is designed to diagnose the level of social integration based on social inclusion, mobility, and the formation of social capital. For social inclusion and mobility, it is divided into detailed areas such as income, employment, housing, education, and health to assess gaps between groups and the status of policy responses.

Unlike existing survey statistics, which focus on wage levels by company size, industry type, gender, and the status of students with migration backgrounds, indicators will be measured by linking administrative data. In the long term, to analyze mobility between income classes not captured by existing statistics, income data from the National Tax Service and population and household data from Statistics Korea will be linked to build an individual and household-level income panel.

Social capital will be composed of subjective perception-based indicators to assess the sense of belonging, trust, and participation levels in society. The use of administrative data such as the status of savings and volunteer participation will also be explored. Data from various ministries, including Statistics Korea and the National Tax Service, will be shared and linked to produce indicators.

New indicators will be developed using existing data, and if long-term cumulative data such as intergenerational income mobility or new data are needed, they will be supplemented through consultation with relevant ministries. The analysis results will serve as basic data for policy formulation to understand the current status and environmental changes related to social integration.

At the meeting, the progress of COVID-19 care measures was also reviewed. The government is expanding the usage time and rate of childcare services by excluding usage during drop-off or school attendance from the usage limit deduction and supporting non-face-to-face services such as home delivery and welfare calls at dementia relief centers.

For persons with disabilities, one-on-one daytime activity services for the most severe cases are provided, and projects such as expanding activity support targets and university-linked support using prospective special education teachers are being implemented. Parental leave can now be divided up to twice, and institutional improvements are being pursued to allow parental leave during pregnancy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.