한국과 미국의 1인가구의 가구 및 주거 특성

Household and Housing Characteristics of Single-person Households in Korean and the United States

The purpose of this study was to explore characteristics of single-person households in Korea and in the United States in order to provide information for housing development targeting these population. For the data analyses, public-use microdata sets of 2011 Korean Household Budget Trend Survey and 2009 American Housing Survey were used. Single-person households’ characteristics were compared with households with two or more persons using a series of chi-square tests of independence and independent sample t-tests. Findings are as follows: Compared to households with two or more persons, (1) single-person households showed greater tendency to be headed by female householders or by persons age 60 year or older in both countries; (2) only among Korean households, single-person households showed greater proportion of households headed by persons age 18 to 29 years; (3) single-person households showed lower educational attainments and lower income level in both countries; (4) single-person households showed greater proportion of renter households in both countries; (5) in Korea, more single-person households were found to live in single-family structures while more single-person households in the United States lived in multifamily structures; and (6) in both countries, single-person households tended to spend less on housing but have greater housing cost burden.