Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
6 out of 10 seniors find income insufficient
gettyimagesbank
By Yi Whan-woo
Korea ranks top of OECD for elderly employment
More than six out of 10 elderly Koreans find that their income is insufficient, as the country rapidly ages with a record 1.97 million people 65 or older and living alone, according to data, Tuesday.
According to data released by Statistics Korea, 61.1 percent of those aged 65 or older in 2021 said their income was not sufficient, compared to the other 7.9 percent who answered that they have “more than enough” income.
The finding comes as the total number of elderly citizens surpassed 9 million for the first time in 2022 and is expected to rise at a faster pace moving forward.
Accounting for 18.4 percent of the country’s 51.5 million population this year, seniors are expected to make up 30.1 percent by 2035 and 46.4 percent in 2070.
Tuesday’s data also comes as more elderly people are working after retirement to avoid poverty.
The country had the developed world’s highest elderly poverty rate at 40.4 percent in 2020.
In terms of the employment rate, it advanced 6.1 percentage points to 36.2 percent between 2012 and 2022.
The rate was above the OECD average of 15 percent and the highest among the 36 OECD member countries.
For instance, Japan reported 25.1 percent, while Sweden reported 19.2 percent and the United States stood at 18 percent.
Concerning the level of satisfaction with income, those who are unemployed had a higher tendency to find their earnings insufficient than those who were employed.
Some 65 percent of those who were not working said that they did not have enough income, compared to 54.6 percent of those who were working.
Asked whether they want to live with their children, 75.7 percent of elderly citizens said “no.” The rate was especially high for employed seniors, with 81.9 percent of them being against the idea while 72.9 percent of those without jobs were against it.
Some 37.5 percent of those with jobs evaluated their health as "good" in 2022, higher than the unemployed which stood at 21.9 percent.
In contrast, 40 percent of unemployed seniors evaluated their health as "bad," whereas only 19.2 percent of the employed group did so.
The remaining life expectancy for those aged 65 was estimated at 19.3 years for men and 23.7 years for women. This figure is higher than the OECD average, which stands at 17.8 years for men and 21.2 years for women.