Economic Conditions of Female-headed Households in Taiwan in Comparison to

the United States and Sweden

Some reflections on the measurement of social quality

Ozawa, Lee and Wang

Source of data

1) The wave 5 of Luxemburg Income Study (LIS)

2) The data was collected around the year of 2000

Source of data

3) 3,544 female-headed households with children under the age of 18

4) U.S.: 2,817 Sweden: 406 Taiwan: 321

Conceptual Framework

1) Poverty rates under different definitions of income

Private income Disposable income=private

income – taxes + public transfers + private transfers

Poverty line: 50% of the median adjusted household income

Conceptual Framework

2) Effects of public transfers & private transfers on poverty reduction

3) Income inequality Private income Disposable income

Conceptual Framework

4) Factors related to poverty status in each country

5) The odds of female-headed households being in poverty among three countries

Conceptual Framework

6) The effect of number of children on the odds of female-headed households being in poverty

7) Implications for the measurement of social quality

Findings

1) Poverty rates under the definition of private income

U.S.: 50% Taiwan: 27% Sweden: 51%

FindingsPoverty rates under the

definition of disposable income

U.S.: 41% Taiwan: 22% Sweden: 9.7%

Findings

2) Effects of public transfers & private transfers on poverty reduction

U.S.: 25% decline in the poverty rate (mainly due to means-tested benefits)

Findings Taiwan: 37% decline in the pove

rty rate (mainly due to private transfers)

Sweden:86% decline in the poverty rate (mainly due to social insurance programs)

Findings

3) Income inequality (Gini) Private income U.S.: 0.491 Taiwan: 0.307 Sweden: 0.494

FindingsDisposable income U.S.: 0.363 Taiwan: 0.280 Sweden: 0.160

Findings

4) Factors related to poverty status in each country

U.S.: number of children under 18, age of youngest child, age, education, marital status, work status

FindingsTaiwan: education, work

statusSweden: age of the youngest

child, marital status, work status

Findings

5) The odds of female-headed households being in poverty among three countries

Compared to Taiwan, female-headed households in Sweden were less likely to be poor.

FindingsCompared to Taiwan, female-he

aded households in the U.S. were more likely to be poor.

Findings

6) The effect of the number of children on the odds of female-headed households being in poverty

In Taiwan, the number of children under 18 did not affect.

FindingsIn Sweden, when the number

of children increased by one, the odds of female-headed household being in poverty decreased by 23%.

FindingsIn the U.S., when the number

of children increased by one, the odds of female-headed household being in poverty increased by 41.6%.

Discussions

1) Before receiving public & private transfers, female-headed households in Taiwan had the lowest poverty rate.

the role of market

Discussions

2) After receiving public & private transfers, female-headed households in Sweden had the lowest poverty rate.

The role of state, especially social insurance programs

Discussions

3) The different effects of public & private transfers on poverty reduction existed in three countries.

DiscussionsU.S.: means-tested programs

Taiwan: family transfers

Sweden: social insurance programs

Discussions

4) The level of poverty rate was related to the level of income inequality.

The country with the lower poverty rate had a more equal income distribution.

Discussions

5) The impacts of life events & human capital on poverty status were different in each country.

U.S.: life events (marriage, raising children), human capital (education, work status)

DiscussionsTaiwan: human capital

(education, work status)Sweden: life events

(marriage, raising children), human capital (work status)

Discussions

6) Adding on more children resulted in a smaller odds of being in poverty in Sweden.

DiscussionsSweden solved the problem

stemming from the existence of children by means of comprehensive systems of income transfers that favors households with children.

Implications for the measurement of social quality

The conditional factor of socio-economic security:

Financial resources• Income sufficiency• Income security

Implications for the measurement of social quality

Work • Employment security• Working conditions

Education• Security of education• Quality of education

Implications for the measurement of social quality

1) Income sufficiency: income-to-needs ratio= household income / poverty

line Suitable for international

comparisons

Implications for the measurement of social quality

2) Income security: poverty rates, income inequality

(ex.Gini): ---the level of economic homogeneity among households

Implications for the measurement of social quality

3) The protection of income security:

Considering other components of the welfare mix, besides state

Taiwan: market, family

Implications for the measurement of social quality

4) The protection of income security:

Considering different types of pubic transfers: means-tested or social insurance programs

Implications for the measurement of social quality

5) Exploring the relationship among the domains:

work, education, financial resources

Implications for the measurement of social quality

6) From a gender perspective, several factors affecting women’s income security need to be considered.

Implications for the measurement of social quality

marital status, age of the youngest child, the number of children (variations among countries)

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!