Not a city for old people
By Kam Byong-ho
Every morning I see elderly people collecting newspapers on a crowded subway. They sell homemade food in the station. They seem desperate.
One question after another comes to my mind. How much do they make? Do they do that for a living? Who made them do that? What can we do for them? What can the government do for them?
A city is not a kind place for old men and women.
As the number of elderly people increases every day, many problems are arising. The major issues are poverty, illness, loneliness and idleness. Among these, idleness starts from retirement. Thus, how to deal with elderly people’s idleness, which comes from the loss of their duties, and has become one of the most important social issues.
Although we have many kinds of welfare systems and facilities in order to deal with these problems of the elderly, we need to think about the origin of the problems, and the government should be prepared to deal with the demands of the elderly.
It is not so hard to see that life satisfaction of senior citizens is at the core of the problems of the elderly. According to a survey, the elderly in urban areas are healthier than those in rural areas. How about their life satisfaction? The National Statistical Office carried out a survey measuring life satisfaction among old people over 65 years old.
In rural areas, 53.3 percent of residents answered they are satisfied with overall family life, where 45 percent of the urban elderly said they are satisfied. Regarding satisfaction with their spouse, 60.8 percent of rural elderly people said they are satisfied; however, 58.7 percent of urban elderly residents expressed satisfaction. Why is the quality of life of the elderly in the city lower than that of rural residents? Let’s think about it from another point of view.
Another study tried to identify variables related to the life satisfaction of elderly people in urban areas. A survey of 1,000 senior citizens in Seoul showed that economic conditions, the closeness to children, leisure activities, social support networks, and conditions of health are important variables to explain the life satisfaction of the elderly. As their health, education level, and wealth are better than those of elderly people in rural areas, the expectations of elderly citizens are higher. The higher expectations are, the harder it is to be happy. It is always harder to fill a big bucket than a small one.
Of course, it is well known that there are enormous facilities for seniors. Some of them are managed by local governments and others by private agencies. They are well organized and well operated. Apart from their managing organizations, they provide various educational programs about leisure, employment, and counseling. But, are these facilities good enough to take care of all elderly people in the city? Can they meet the expectations of the elderly? If so, who are the people collecting newspapers in the subway who only make 3,000 won a day? There are still many isolated old men ― and women ― in the city.
Who can help these marginalized old people? They might not know how to utilize the welfare systems. They might not have enough money to join the facilities. Or they don’t want to join the communities of other elderly people. Perhaps the government should do something for these seniors in the subway or stations. Leading and guiding them to participate in the facilities should be a responsibility of the government. But you who are reading this article shouldn’t be free from this responsibility.
Ignoring them might be easy when you see them. But they could be your parents, your grandparents or they could be you in the future. Financial support from the government for the facilities is not the only or best way to solve the problems. Your small attention and interest can be a hope for the alienated elderly. Your small but warm word can be their big comfort. Why don’t you say them, ``May I help you?” This approach will snowball and resonate. People next to you who see you that you talked to the elderly will, in turn, talk to them later. This slow and minor movement will affect our whole society eventually.
I would not say which policies the government should make for these lonely elderly people. Building more facilities may help them. Providing them with works to may be a good solution. But what I really want to say is that they can’t get by without our love and affection toward them.
It is obvious that our long standing and wholehearted attention will be highly required because the problems of the elderly persist in this aging society.
The writer is a young commuter who lives in Seoul and Daejeon. He can be reached at harry.bh.kam@gmail.com.