Whole Life Stratification and Safety-net Status: From an East Asian Comparative Viewpoint

In this paper, by focusing on the long-term stock of social resources for retirement living, we discuss whole life stratification. In this respect, the best index for a person's status is the safety-net status, one's relative access to the institutions of the social safety net. Using the 2005 SSM data in Japan and in South Korea, we measure safety-net status and investigate the relationship with occupational stratification and family from an East Asian comparative viewpoint. After confirming the distribution patterns that are characteristic for people of specific age groups in each country, we analyze the prescriptive structure of the specific safety-net status within specific age group. By comparing the structures, we forecast the transformation of the distribution patterns with aging and discuss the difference between Japan and Korea.