By Kim Tae-jong
A 53-year-old woman surnamed Kim has recently started babysitting to make a living after putting an end to her 25-years as a housewife.
Her retired husband cannot afford to support the family with his 600,000 won monthly pension and the couple still has to support one of their sons until he successfully lands a job.
“It’s really tough,” she said. “But I don’t have any other option.”
The number of females in their 50s like Kim who have recently become breadwinners is increasing, data revealed Sunday.
According to the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), the number of female workers in their 50s increased by about 198,000 in the January-April period, compared to the average number of female workers in the same age group last year.
Consequently, the employment rate of females in their 50s is the highest this year, compared to previous ones. It now stands at 57.3 percent, up from 55.9 percent in 2011, 55.6 percent in 2010 and 55.1 percent in 2009, the institute said.
KLI said a large number of females are now working in their later years despite having husbands.
“A large number of female workers in their 50s who have recently landed a job seem to be new breadwinners,” a KLI official said. “They seem to make a living after their husbands, mostly baby boomers, retire earlier.”
He also noted that mothers in the age group have no choice but to take work to support their children who tend to be unemployed and live with their parents.
The increasing employment rate of women in their 50s also contrasts with the decreasing rate of females in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
But experts said most female workers in their 50s have low-paid jobs such as street cleaners, babysitters and kitchen assistants in restaurants.
“Even if they seek to earn a license or certification for better positions, what they can get is mainly low-paid jobs such as a cook at a small restaurant or hairdresser,” an official from a job center in Gwanak, Seoul said. “Also, they don’t usually want to face risks and have little money to open their own business.”
According to Statistics Korea, of all female workers in their 50s and their 60s 62.3 percent and 83.5 percent, respectively, held low-paid jobs last year.
The job center official also said that female workers in their 50s have limited options even if they have good educational backgrounds because they lack work experience.
Other experts pointed out that most female workers in their 50s are in unstable employment.
“Recent data shows a moderate increase in employment rates despite the sluggish economy, but it is largely attributed to unstable employment of those in their 50s and 60s,” Kim Bok-sun, an official from the KLI, said. “Actually, the employment rates of female workers in their 30s and 40s are stagnant.”