[Feature] Income Inequality, Its Causes and True Conditions / Ku Inhoe
The Quarterly Changbi 185, Autumn 2019
Abstract
Sociologist Ku Inhoe analyzes the realities of economic polarization and income inequality that have emerged recently as urgent issues in light of the major changes in the labor market and family structure that have been underway. He emphasizes that we need to pay attention to the effect of changes in family structure on social inequality, since the family is the basic unit of economic resource distribution in Korea. While pointing out that worsening economic inequality is caused by a worsening distribution gap in the labor market, the aging of the labor force, family structure changes, and the government’s problematic tax and social policy, Ku proposes that we change the policy paradigm toward pursuing both development and improved distribution.