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By Yoon Ja-young
In Korea, people are categorized as senior citizens once they reach 65. In the future, they may have to wait until 73 to be defined as such, as a research think tank suggested raising the official age of senior citizens in an attempt to reduce social welfare spending.
Lee Tae-suk, director of the department of public finance and social policy at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), noted in a report published on Tuesday that Korea will see the steepest rise in its old-age dependency ratio among OECD member countries over the next 30 to 40 years. The ratio compares the number of elderly people aged 65 or older with the working age population, or those from 15 to 64.
While Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world, with around 0.8 babies born per woman, the average life expectancy of 83.7 here is long compared with most other countries, the researcher points out. The proportion of senior citizens is thus expected to rise to the world's highest level.
"Korea was once the youngest country among the OECD, but it is now transforming into the oldest. Its old-age dependency ratio will also surpass the OECD average in 2027 and rise to the highest among OECD members in 2054," Lee noted.
Lee suggested raising the official age of senior citizens by one year once every 10 years. In this way, the official age of senior citizens will reach 73 by 2100. The number of senior citizens supported by 100 people of working age will stand at 60, which is much smaller than the 96 senior citizens in case the current official age of 65 is maintained. Korean has been maintaining the official age at 65 since 1981 with the establishment of the Senior Citizen Welfare Act. Koreans aged 65 were expected to live for 14.5 more years in 1981, but now they are expected to live 21.4 more years.
While some developed countries are planning to raise the age to when one starts to get a pension, the researcher noted there has to be a social consensus on such issues. He also suggested raising the official retirement age and overhauling the wage system.
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