Due to the spread of Covid-19 the majority of the people are feeling depressed as they experience social isolation and disconnection. Accordingly, there are voices of concern that the suicide rate will increase as Covid-19 continues, and that the suicide rate of middle-aged people may rise after the Covid-19 is over.
The problem of male suicide in the middle age began to emerge rapidly as a social problem amid the economic crisis in 1998 due to the IMF. The main causes were economic crisis, employment crisis, instability in the job situation and psychological crisis such as anxiety and frustration due to the inability to fulfill the role of head of household in the family. The purpose of this study is to verify the influence and role of economic and social factors on the suicide rate of middle-aged men. It aims to provide data on the management and intervention of crisis in middle-aged men through research. In this study, the scope of analysis was to analyze how the impact of the economic crisis affects the neutral male (40-59 years old) group at the level of each city in the country by looking at the changes in the suicide rate according to the internal and external crises that occurred during 2010-2018. As an analysis method, a fixed effect analysis was used to control local characteristics.
An empirical analysis of how economic and social factors influenced the suicide rate revealed that the economic crisis increased the suicide rate.
First, as a result of examining the change in suicide rate according to sex, men's suicide rate was higher than that of women, and middle-aged men showed the highest suicide rate after the elderly by age. In the economic factors shown in the analysis results of this study, the GRDP per capita was statistically significant as the level of gross regional product per resident (GRDP) was negative (-) with the suicide rate. As a result of examining the OECD countries, it was found that in countries where national income reached a certain level or higher, the suicide rate increased as the per capita GDP level increased. The relationship between per capita personal income and the suicide rate of middle-aged men was significantly negative (-). The suicide rate was low in regions with high per capita personal income, which indicates the economic power of the region, confirming that the economic level within the region had a significant impact on the suicide rate. However, the relationship between private consumption expenditure per capita and the suicide rate of middle-aged men was significant. It was found that as the amount of private consumption increased, the suicide rate of middle-aged men increased.
Also, due to the economic crisis, the male suicide rate increased significantly more than the female suicide rate, indicating that men are more vulnerable to the economic crisis than women.
As a social factor, the relationship between the proportion of health and social workers and the suicide rate of middle-aged men was significant as a negative (-) relationship. As a result of the analysis, the relationship between the ratio of health and social workers and the suicide rate of middle-aged men was significant as a negative (-) relationship. In other words, as the proportion of social welfare companies increased, the suicide rate was found to be lower. It examined whether local governments can reduce suicide rates by strengthening social safety nets through social welfare expenditures. The social welfare budget ratio, which reflects the social welfare orientation of the local government, was found to be able to lower the suicide rate of the following year by efforts from the previous year, but was statistically significant for the suicide rate of middle-aged men.
The impact of the per capita social welfare expenditure budget, which represents the absolute benefits of local residents, on the suicide rate was also found that the efforts of the previous year could significantly lower the overall suicide rate and the female suicide rate for the entire age of the following year.
In other words, the reinforcement of the relative (weight of the social welfare sector's budget) and absolute (the amount of support per capita) for social welfare policies plays a role in suppressing the increase in the suicide rate in the region, especially by resolving the economic and psychological difficulties of women. I can see the point.
The relationship between the number of recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security and the suicide rate of middle-aged men was positive (+). As the number of recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security increased, the suicide rate was higher. In a study of the elderly and poor, spending on the absolute poor, such as the proportion of recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security System by region, lowered the suicide rate throughout the analysis, but the results of the analysis were different from the suicide rate of middle-aged men by age and gender. In addition, regions with consistently high and low average suicide rates during the analysis period were selected for each province based on the characteristics of administrative districts and geographical proximity. As a result of examining the characteristics of a total of 16 regional cases, results similar to the results of panel analysis such as the importance of the economic aspect and the social aspect of the local community were confirmed.