Baby boomers urged to share fruits with young

By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Seung-cheol, vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), speaks during a press conference at the FKI headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Lee called on baby boomers to make sacrifices for people of the next generation. / Courtesy of FKI

Baby boomers, those born between 1955 and 1963, should make sacrifices to make things better for people of the next generation by sharing well-paying jobs with them and refraining from making pension and other welfare programs overly generous for the older generation, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) said Monday.

FKI Vice Chairman Lee Seung-cheol said baby boomers should fulfill their social responsibility for young people born between 1979 and 1992, who have been struggling to find jobs and accumulate wealth amid the economic slowdown in recent years.

“I think baby boomers, including myself, should take intergenerational social responsibility. This means those in their 50s should make efforts to create more favorable social and economic environments for their children,” Lee said. “Those currently in power are mostly baby boomers that have accumulated substantial wealth over the years, while young people in their 20s and 30s are having a hard time making ends meet amid the tight job market.”

Lee said baby boomers had benefited from Korea’s rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s.

“It was easy for baby boomers to find jobs and save money thanks to the nation’s robust economic growth. However, young people have been facing a bleak job market over the past few years as the economy slows down,” the vice chairman said. “Against such a backdrop, the older generation should strive to scrap regulations and foster new growth engines, creating more jobs for the younger generation.”

He also called for the introduction of a peak wage system, stressing that baby boomers should be willing to work for less because they are obliged to share decent jobs with people of the next generation.

“If all the companies here adopt the peak wage system, which cuts an employee’s salary by 10 percent annually from the age of 55 until workers retire at 60, this is projected to create 313,000 new positions for young people,” Lee said. “In addition, to help those in their 20s and 30s increase their assets, baby boomers need to boost the nation’s growth potential and foster entrepreneurship so that more young people can set up startups.”

Korea should set a ceiling on a debt-to-GDP ratio to prevent people of the older generation from making their pension and other welfare programs more generous at the expense of the young generation, the vice chairman said.

“Baby boomers should be responsible for their post-retirement lives on their own because they are in a better financial position,” Lee said. “It is sad to find out that most young people don’t expect to receive a pension when they retire as the National Pension Fund is set to exhaust in 2060. It is the responsibility of the older generation to create a bright future for the next generation.”