Essay Example on Rising Poverty in Seoul: Impact of 21st Century Economic Crisis

Introduction

Over the years, the percentage of people living in poverty in the Seoul city of South Korea has drastically increased. The increase has been associated with the economic crisis that has been witnessed several in the 21st century. According to Koo (2001), the percentage of urban poor whose level of income was below the minimum cost of living increased from 8.1% in 1997 to 13.5% in 1998. There was also an increase in school-age children who could hardly afford lunch as a result of their household economic problems. The situation was forcing the underprivileged Korean children into nutritionally unfavorable conditions.

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According to Oh ( 2018), low-income urban families constitute the most significant proportion of people affected by food insecurity in the urban area among the city of Seoul. Thus, in South Korea, food insecurity is rampant amongst low-income families. In one study, one-fourth of the low-income household were categorized as food insecure. Another study that was conducted in five low-income areas in Seoul indicated that about 60% of the household in Seoul were food insecure. However, food insecurity is even more severe in the neighboring rural areas of Seoul city.

According to Dohyeong Kim et al. (2016), while there is a decline in insufficient food because of financial constraints, the other unhealthy eating habits have increased and therefore remain high. The trend is most prevalent among the young and educated groups. It is believed that time and financial constraints lure people to gravitate toward the consumption of suboptimal foods. People who earn a high income and the highly educated justifies the consumption of unhealthy or undesirable but convenient food products in Korea on the ground of social acceptance of these foods.

In South Korea, most regional governments work together to support low-income families. These agencies supply staple food, e.g., uncooked rice to eligible families. Also, public health centers, through a program called "Nutrition Plus" support the pregnant and lactating women and children. Children from low-income households are entitled to free school lunches and a card that they can use to purchase food in specified food outlets.

Community Response Due to Coronavirus

South Korea has experienced a surge in coronavirus transmission beginning 19 February. These cases increased dramatically on 21 February. The rise in the spread was due to community spread that was traced from a church in Shincheonji. Due to the upsurge in the spread of the virus, the government raised the red alert on 23 February. The government first raised the alert level to be yellow from blue. It immediately commenced the implementation of enhanced quarantine and extensive screening of all the visitors coming from Wuhan on 3 January. A quick diagnostic test for coronavirus was made available at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The system of testing has also been made available to private clinics and other medical centers (Yang, 2020).

South Korea has also come up with a diagnostic system that can detect the virus in a short time of 6 hours. To curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government has resorted to extensive contact tracing, and it has also directed its citizens to refrain from attending the public gathering. The government has also restricted the movement of the people and postponed the opening of schools. The government also directed the employers to issue 14 days leave of absence or work from home for all the employees coming back from China. Due to this pandemic, several retailers have closed their store as contact tracing revealed that some of these stores were visited by people affected by a coronavirus. However, due to the rapid response by the government, South Korea has managed to keep most of its factories, restaurants, and shopping malls open. The closure of many schools in Seoul and South Korean at large has robbed the children from low-income households the opportunity to enjoy free lunches or breakfast crab. This situation could put the nutrition wellbeing of the children at stake (Yang, 2020).

Population likely to Be Most Affected

The populations whose nutrition is at risk during this time of crisis are women and children. Women, especially lactating mothers, need a balance and a nutritious diet to ensure their infants grow healthy. Failure to get enough food may put the life of the mother and the infant at risk (Han & Shim, 2018). The other population that is bound to be affected is the rural population. Most families living in rural areas depend on support from their relatives in urban areas. With many businesses closing down due to the pandemic, the level of the income of the urban dwellers is likely to reduce, thus reducing the remittances to the rural areas. The situation may make rural families fail to meets their nutritional needs. The other group that is expected to be affected is low- income households in urban areas. Most of these households live hand to mouth, and the closure of many businesses would mean that these households have nothing to depend on a source of livelihood. The measure that has been put by the government does not adequately address the current needs of these people.

Recommendation

I would recommend that the state and the local governments should come up with a pandemic rescue kitty. All the funds from this kitty should be used to support the most vulnerable population in society, including women, children physically challenged members of the community.

The government should also come up with the unemployment benefit policy where an individual continues to receive some monetary benefits at the time he or she is not working due to such a crisis. These would ensure that their lives and nutrition wellbeing is not adversely affected by the sudden occurrence of the crisis that makes them lose their source of livelihood.

References

Dohyeong Kim, Chang Kil Lee, Dong Yeon Seo. (2016). Food desert in Korea? A GIS analysis of food consumption patterns at a sub-district level in Seoul using the KNHANES 2008-2012 data. Nutrition Research and Practice, 10(5): 530-536. https://synapse.koreamed.org/search.php?where=aview&id=10.4162/nrp.2016.10.5.530&code=0161NRP&vmode=FULL

Han, S. J., & Shim, Y. H. (2018). The Global Economic Crisis, Dual Polarization, and Liberal Democracy in South Korea. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 43(4), 274-299. https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/60872/ssoar-hsr-2018-4-han_et_al-The_Global_Economic_Crisis_Dual.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&lnkname=ssoar-hsr-2018-4-han_et_al-The_Global_Economic_Crisis_Dual.pdf

Koo, I. (2019). Socioeconomic characteristics of poverty: after an economic crisis. Proceedings of the Congress of the Korean Social Security Association.

Oh, S. H. (2018). Food insecurity is associated with dietary intake and body size of Korean children from low-income families in urban areas. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 57, 1598-1604. https://www.nature.com/articles/1601877

Yang, Z. (2020). China's Response to Coronavirus Outbreak: Implications for ASEAN. RSIS Commentaries, 014-20. https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/10356/136819/2/CO20014.pdf