Seminars

Abstract: The suicide rate in the elderly population tends to be higher than that of any other age group globally. Economic hardship is one of the factors closely related to suicide in elderly individuals, yet the effects of preventive measures to resolve financial strains on the suicidality risk remain unclear. Our work explored the association of the cash exposure determined exogenously by the induced standard and reduced suicidal ideation among elderly individuals of a similar age. To confirm the beneficial association of the Korea’s Basic Old-Age Pension (BOAP) introduced in July 2014, Korea Health Panel Study data from 2013 and 2018 were used to analyze temporal changes in suicidal ideation risk. By using the ordered-logit model, we found that reduced suicidal ideation among elderly individuals was significantly associated with the BOAP benefit. Furthermore, the associations of cash transfers with reduced suicidal ideation were greater in individuals with lower income levels. This implies that income supplements to senior citizens with economic hardship may alleviate the suicide problem in the older population.