The Effect of Informal Social Service Information Channels on Subjective Welfare Perception Among Older Adults with Disabilities

Background/Purpose: As population aging accelerates in South Korea, the aging of the population with disabilities is progressing at a significantly faster rate than that of the non-disabled population. The proportion of older adults aged 65 and over among registered persons with disabilities increased sharply from 32.7% in 2007 to 55.3% in 2024 (Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2025), a trend expected to intensify further.

Although South Korea has developed a wide range of social services and welfare programs, significant barriers to access remain. Older adults with disabilities repeatedly report that they “did not know how to apply” or that “no one informed them.”, suggesting that welfare service gaps may stem not from the absence of programs but from structural deficiencies in information acquisition channels.

This study examines how the informality of information acquisition channels affects subjective welfare perception among older adults with disabilities aged 65 and above. By distinguishing between formal and informal channels, it seeks to shift the focus from the mere existence of delivery systems to their actual reach, ultimately proposing strategies to mitigate welfare service gaps through improved information accessibility.

Methods: Data and samples: Data were drawn from the 2023 National Survey on Persons with Disabilities, conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), with a final analytic sample of 3,936 individuals aged 65 or older.

Measures: Analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 29.0. Frequency analysis and descriptive statistics examined sociodemographic characteristics and variable distributions. Pearson correlation analysis identified relationships among variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was then conducted to examine the incremental effect of the informality of information acquisition channels (independent variable) on subjective welfare perception (dependent variable), controlling for gender, educational attainment, disability severity, disability type, benefit receipt status, and employment status.

Results: Among the control variables, benefit receipt status (β = .341, p < .001), disability severity (β = .263, p < .001), and employment status (β = .034, p < .05) showed statistically significant positive effects on subjective welfare perception. The informality of information acquisition channels exerted a statistically significant negative effect (β = −.041, p < .01), indicating that greater reliance on informal channels is associated with lower perceived welfare. This suggests that access to information through formal channels plays a critical role in enhancing welfare perception among older adults with disabilities.

Conclusions and Implications: Even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, the informality of information acquisition channels had a statistically significant negative effect on subjective welfare perception, indicating that older adults with disabilities perceive higher welfare when obtaining information through formal channels such as administrative agencies and welfare institutions. However, 2,481 of 3,936 respondents (63.0%) relied on informal channels, highlighting an urgent need to strengthen the reach of formal delivery systems. Based on these findings, the study proposes three recommendations: (1) strengthening the information provision function of formal service delivery systems, (2) expanding proactive outreach strategies to address gaps in service delivery, and (3) introducing intermediary models that link informal social networks with formal service delivery systems.