Why 'one size fits all' fails in welfare policy design

A new study published in *Asia Pacific Viewpoint* finds that Welfare support should not use the same formula for every household. The right amount depends on who lives in the home, what they need, and the type of benefit.

STUDY DETAILS

Research question: How should household income needs be adjusted for different household compositions, consumption types, and welfare-policy objectives?

Key findings:

Household size is not enough: Two households with the same number of people may need different levels of support depending on the members and the goods and services required.

Additional adults generally need more support: The study found that each additional adult usually required a larger income adjustment than each additional child.

Education is an important exception: Children generated relatively greater additional needs for education expenditure, showing why benefit rules may need to vary by programme purpose.

The type of spending matters: Non-shareable necessities such as food required larger adjustments than shareable expenses such as housing, which household members can use together.

One scale does not fit every benefit: The empirical scales were generally smaller than the old OECD benchmark, and the findings suggest that equivalence scales should be tailored to the objectives of individual welfare programmes.

Lead author Dr. Taiwon Ha says, "One size does not fit all when it comes to household income needs. We hope this research can provide practical evidence for designing a more responsive social protection system that better reflects household differences and directs support to those who need it most."

The findings could help policymakers refine income eligibility thresholds and benefit levels in Korea's National Basic Livelihood Security system, making minimum-income support more responsive to actual household needs.

If this aligns with your coverage, I would be happy to share the full study published in *Asia Pacific Viewpoint* (https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.70063) for your reference.