Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
More women over 60 are engaged in economic activities
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By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Growing employment among women and increased economic activity among seniors are transforming societal norms in Korea as more women in their 60s are now participating in the workforce rather than staying at home to handle domestic duties such as caring for grandchildren, recent government statistics showed.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of salaried women in their 60s stood at 1.91 million last month, which is up 8.2 percent from a year ago.
The figure is notably higher than the combined total of women in their 60s who are full-time homemakers or are caring for their grandchildren, which stands at 1.71 million.
While the number of women in their 60s caring for grandchildren rose by 3,000 from the previous year to 33,000, the number of them who are full-time housewives fell by 17,000 to 1.67 million. These changes reflect a trend toward increased economic activity among elderly women.
The labor force participation rate among people aged over 60 marked a record-high 48.2 percent last month. Statistics Korea's latest survey on the economically active population from last year shows that 68.5 percent of people aged between 55 to 79 hope to find jobs in the future.
Around 375,000 employed women in their 60s work in the social welfare sector, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the working women in that age group.
The increase in the number of employed elderly women also spurred a jump in female employment in general, which reached a record-high 55.1 percent last month. The figure was up by 332,000 from last year and 145,000 of them, or 43 percent, were in their 60s.
This trend is expected to continue amid the rapidly aging population, with over 9 million, or 17.5 percent of Korea's population, were aged 65 or older in 2022. By 2025, this age group is predicted to exceed 20 percent of the population, turning Korea into a "super-aged" society as classified by the U.N.