농촌 취약계층 생활실태 조사 및 지원체계 구축을 위한 기초연구

Abstract

농촌에는 도시에 비해 취약계층이 상대적으로 많이 거주한다고 알려져 있다. 취약계층이란 우리 사회에서 경제적‧사회적‧정치적·문화적 측면에서 배제된 약자를 총칭하는 것으로 농촌의 경우 영세고령농, 독거노인, 조손가족, 장애인, 다문화가족 등이 대표적이다. 농촌 취약계층에 대한 체계적인 조사를 통해 관련 데이터베이스를 정기적으로 생산하게 된다면, 정책의 성과와 실효성을 확인할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라 취약계층의 생활여건을 실질적으로 향상시킬 수 있는 효과적 정책 방안을 마련하는 데 기초자료로 활용할 수 있을 것이다. 그래서 이 연구는 농촌의 취약계층을 정의하고 그들의 생활실태를 조사·분석함으로써, 체계적인 조사의 의의와 방법을 확인하는 한편 효과적 관련 정책 지원의 과제를 제안하려는 목적으로 추진되었다. 다양한 선행연구 및 관련 법제도에 대한 검토, 9종의 기존 통계자료 2차 분석, 농촌 취약지역에 거주하는 노인, 장애인, 다문화가족 등의 1,000가구에 대한 방문 설문조사 등이 이루어졌다. 더불어 지자체 및 민간 단위의 우수 활동 사례를 살펴보았고 향후 중앙정부 정책 지원 내용과 방식의 변화 필요성, 농촌 취약계층 생활실태의 정기적 조사와 DB 구축의 필요성 등을 제안하였다.

Background There are several vulnerable social groups in rural areas such as petty elderly farmers, senior citizens who live alone, low-income grandparents- grandchildren families, multi-cultural families and so on. Although life conditions of the vulnerable social groups are significantly poor, the effort of grasping their life conditions has been insufficient. Also, in the face of specific problems of vulnerable rural areas originated from the characteristics of rural areas, the vulnerable social groups in the areas have not been handled by researches. Therefore, through building up related data, this study deducts outcomes and effectiveness of related policies and suggests effective policies for the vulnerable social groups with results of analysing the data. The purpose of this study is as follows. First, the study defines the vulnerable social groups in rural areas, and then surveys and analyzes their life conditions. Subsequently, methods and implications of the survey are to be explained, and the effective support policies for them will be proposed. Method The study reviews advanced researches and related laws in order to define the vulnerable social groups, and then designates petty elderly people, disabled people and multi-cultural families as the vulnerable social groups in rural areas. Also the study identifies support programs for them of the Korean central government and those of other countries in an attempt to draw implications. Then, it analyzes related existing data to figure out their living status. The analysis is particularly focused on the comparison between urban and rural areas. In addition, this study conducts a survey to identify the vulnerable areas based on service accessibility, and compares vulnerable social groups who live in the vulnerable areas and those who live in areas with better accessibility. Finally, it proposes policies to enhance quality of life of the vulnerable social groups in rural areas based on the research. Results and Implications The existing data that is analyzed in the study was collected by each survey that targeted each vulnerable group (elders, children, disabled people and so on). Also the data does not have sufficient sample size of people who live in rural areas. Therefore, the results of analysis of the existing data are not sufficient to grasp life conditions of complex vulnerable social groups that belong to more than two categories of the vulnerable social groups, such as disabled elderly and multi-cultural family. Hence, the study could not find out the vulnerable people’s life status in rural areas in detail. The study figures out the vulnerable areas in rural areas and finds out the facts that 18.3% of rural population lives in service inaccessible areas. In addition, the proportion of the elderly in the vulnerable areas is beyond 30% and population density is only 1/100 of urban areas. The results of our survey targeting vulnerable people living in the rural areas are as follows. The food cost made up the biggest part of the living expenses and 47.4% of the respondents said that they were food-poor. Also the proportion of people who have not joined the programs offered by public institutions during the passing year is only 26.5%. A few implications are drawn through the study and it suggests possible policy alternatives. Firstly, it is necessary to survey the living conditions of the vulnerable social groups in rural areas consistently, and the data collected through the surveys should be accumulated. Then, the data could be a useful resource to develop meaningful policy issues. Secondly, it is essential to identify and collect best practices of various programs that have been implemented by a local government or civilians. The programs can be shared and policy makers could apply them when they establish a new policy plan for the vulnerable social groups in rural areas. Thirdly, direction of support programs for vulnerable social groups of the central government needs to be changed. Support programs need to be designed in consideration of the vulnerable areas and social groups’ reality. Researchers: Song Miryung, Cho Mihyoung, Sim Jaehun, You Eunyoung and Kim Nari Research period: 2015. 9. ~ 2016. 4.E-mail address: mrsong@krei.re.kr