Staff reporter
The number of senior citizens living alone here has been on the rise over the past years, with one out of every five Koreans aged over 65 living on their own in Seoul in 2009.
After an overview of its 25 districts, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said there were 927,560 Seoulites aged over 65 last year, up 26.8 percent from 731,350 in 2005.
Of the 927,560 surveyed, 203,100 elderly were found to be living alone in 2009, up 63 percent from 124,900 in 2005. The figure accounts for 22 percent of Seoul's total elderly population.
A higher proportion of senior citizens in Seoul live alone, compared to other parts of the country. Statistics Korea estimates that about 18.8 percent of the elderly lived on their own in 2009 across the nation, up from 17.8 percent in 2005.
The statistics office attributed the growing senior citizen population living alone to Korea's prolonged life expectancy. Also, more elderly seek an independent life from their grown-up children.
According to the Seoul Survey 2009, only 27.9 percent of elderly citizens wanted to live with their children. The remaining 72.1 percent sought to support themselves while living close to their children or professional geriatric institutions.
In particular, only 15.4 percent of the baby boomer generation ― those who were born between 1955 and 1963 and will likely retire within the next 10 years ― said they would like to live with their kids after retirement.
Kim Myong-yong of the city's senior welfare department said many senior citizens suffer from financial instability and health-related problems. ``But for those who live on their own, loneliness and safety issues top their concerns.''
Kim stressed the strengthening of the community function at a district level in Seoul. ``Seoul has a weak community link, compared to other regions, and we need to come up with policies to boost community spirit."
The city now offers support for 191 low-income single seniors by renovating their houses from last month. Since January this year, the city has been telephoning 5,000 senior citizens unable to move freely or with chronic diseases to listen to their concerns. Nearly 600 care assistants have been dispatched to visit these elderly in person.
서울 노인 5명 중 1명은 홀로 살아
서울지역에서 독거노인의 수가 증가하여 2009년에는 5명 중 1명 꼴로 혼자 사는 것으로 나타났다.
서울시는 25개 자치구를 조사하여 2009년에 서울에 927,560명의 65세 이상 노인이 살고 있으며, 이는 2005년의 731,350명에 비해 26.8 퍼센트가 증가한 것이라고 밝혔다.
전체 927,560명의 노인 중에서 203,100명은 홀로 살고 있으며 이는 2005년의 124,900명보다 63 퍼센트가 늘어난 것이다. 이는 전체 서울의 노인 인구 중 22 퍼센트를 차지한다.
다른 지방에 비해 서울의 독거 노인의 비율이 높다. 통계청은 2005년에 독거노인 비율이 17.8 퍼센트였고 2009년에는 18.8 퍼센트일 것으로 예측했다.
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