A Comparison of Household Characteristics by Deficit Types

The purpose of the study was to examine the characteristics and economic status of deficit households. The data for this study were from The Household Income and Expenditure Survey in 2000, 2005, and 2010 conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Deficit households were defined by those who had expenditures higher than their income. Among total households, the proportion of deficit households was 26.84% in 2000, 28.14% in 2005, and 27.15% in 2010. The average propensity to consume was 132.1 in 2005, which was higher than those in 2000 and 2010. Deficit households were classified into five types using cluster analysis: 1)overall-overconsumption group(33.07%), 2)basic needs group(26.33%), 3)transportation expenditure-dominated group(6.73%), 4)education expenditure-dominated group(27.63%), 5)health care expenditure-dominated group(6.24%). The overall-overconsumption group was the largest group of total households and the portion of this group among total households decreased by 4.97%p from 2005 to 2010. However, the education expenditure-dominated group increased by approximately 7.6%p over the period. It was also found that households in 2000 and 2010 were more likely to be in all five groups than households in 2005. Other major determinants of households with deficit were gender, age, number of family members, education level, dual income, home ownership, vehicle ownership, and income class.