This study recognizes the seriousness of poverty experienced by elderly women in Korea and to examine the relationship between various variables based on their understanding of the happiness they seek. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 293 poor elderly women over the age of 65 on social policy, social support, and happiness. From the collected data, it was confirmed whether satisfaction with two social policies, the national pension and the basic pension, affects the happiness of the poor. And it analyzed whether social support acts as a mediator in the path of the research model designed in this study. The analysis results of this study are as follows. First, through the verification, the reliability of the measured variables was secured, and it has been confirmed that the model designed in this study is a model that describes the relationship between social policy and the happiness of poor elderly women. Second, as a result of analyzing the effect of social policy on the happiness of the elderly in poverty, it was found that the national pension system and the basic pension system had a significant positive effect on the happiness of the poor elderly women. Finally, it was analyzed that there was a more positive effect when there was a mediating effect of social support in the relationship between social policy and the happiness of poor elderly women. Furthermore, based on the results of this study, the policy and practice direction for improving the happiness of the elderly in poverty were presented.

본 연구는 빈곤한 여성의 노년기 행복에 대해 기초연금제도가 미치는 영향을 검증하고자 하였다. 기초 연금 수급 집단과 비수급 집단 간의 비교분석을 통해 빈곤여성의 노년기 행복과 기초연금제도가 어떠한 상관관계를 갖는지 고찰하고자 하였다. 기초연금제도가 빈곤한 여성노인의 행복 증진에 긍정적 영향을 미칠 것이라는 가정을 검토하기 위해 서울 및 경기 지역에 거주하는 빈곤여성노인을 대상으로 설문조사를 실시하였으며, 그 중 연구에 적합한 180부를 최종 표본으로 선별하여 분석을 실시하였다. 분석 결과, 기초연금의 수급 대상자인 여성노인 집단이 비수급 대상자인 여성노인 집단에 비해 더 큰 행복을 느끼는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과를 살펴봤을 때, 빈곤여성노인의 문제를 이해하고 그들의 행복을 증진하기 위해서는 기초연금 같은 공적소득이전의 확대와 지역사회 복지프로그램의 활성화가 시급히 요청된다는 게 본 연구의 주장이다.