The Impact of the Hope Growing Account Program on Participants’ Household Earned Income in South Korea

Abstract

In 2010, the Korean government introduced the Hope Growing Account (Hope) program. Hope combines elements of its social assistance scheme (monthly income grant) with matched funds for saving to encourage the working poor to increase income and build assets. This longitudinal study estimated changes in earned income among 1,045 low-income households who participated in Hope between 2010 and 2012. The adjusted difference-in-differences estimation showed that participants’ average change in household monthly earned income was $168 higher than non-participants’. Our findings suggest that participation in asset-building programs such as Hope may promote economic benefits beyond savings.

Keywords: asset-based policy, working poor, household earned income, poverty, Korea, welfare policy