More Seniors Shun Living With Children
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Report
Two out of every three people over 65 years of age want to live apart from their children, while 30 percent actually live with them, a recent survey has shown.
Moreover, 82 percent of those who have not yet reached the age of 65 said they would rather not live with their children when they get older.
They preferred to live in their own houses regardless of their health and other conditions, while others said they would rather live in so-called silver towns or nursing homes.
The Korea Research Institute For Human Settlements issued the statement after surveying the elderly covering 9,724 single elderly people, including 1,000 people living in nursing facilities and 5,087 adults under 65, to study the lifestyle patterns of the elderly in Korea.
The results showed that 30 percent of those over 65 live with their children in Seoul and its surrounding areas as well as in metropolitan city areas. Also many lived a close distance from their families in separate houses.
Most owned their own houses ― the ownership rate of 72.9 percent was the highest among all generations. And they said they would like to live in their houses without having to care about other conditions.
Some 67.1 percent said they would not live with their children, while 27.7 percent would live nearby and 39.4 percent didn't care. Some said they would rather stay at nursing facilities or so-called silver towns, where they could receive professional care from experts and make friends with other seniors.
About 7.4 percent said they would be willing to live with their children only if their spouse died or they became critically ill. A mere 24.1 percent expressed a desire to live with their children.
However, their preparation for elderly life depended heavily on their income. Seventy seven percent of those who made more than 3.1 million won a month said they felt prepared for post-retirement life, while the figure dropped to 21.1 percent for those who earning less than 1.5 million won.