KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of social welfare expenditures both at the national and local level in Korea and to explore how the transfer of social welfare budget and the delegation of social welfare policies and programs have been made from central government to local governments. Also, the distribution of social welfare finances by gender was evaluated from the perspective of selected local government officials, and the demand and utilization of social welfare services by gender was analyzed using Korea Welfare Panel Study data. Findings reveal that local government officials hardly consider the different effects of social welfare budget allocation on women and men when planning and implementing social welfare policies even though the demand and utilization of social welfare services differ by gender. It is suggested to raise the gender awareness of local government officials by letting them build and use gender statistics, conduct community needs assessment considering gender differences, and actively participate in gender budgeting along with gender sensitive analysis on the social welfare beneficiaries and program performance.