By Choi Sung-jin
Korea's employment rate of people aged 75 and older is the highest among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And most of the elderly citizens are working not because they want to but because they must earn their living.
According to the OECD Friday, the employment rate of people aged 65 and older was 31.3 percent in Korea in 2014, the second highest rate after Finland and 2.3 times higher than the OECD average of 13.4 percent.
It was also far higher than in Japan (20.8 percent), the United Kingdom (10 percent) and Germany (5.8 percent).
Particularly, the nation's employment rate of people aged 75 and older stood at 19.2 percent, the highest among the 24 member countries available for comparison and four times higher than the OECD's average of 4.8 percent. Mexico was the only other country with a double-digit rate (15.7 percent). The corresponding rates were 8.2 percent for Japan, 2.6 percent for Britain and 0.4 percent for France.
Another reason is the nation's poor pension system. "In most industrial countries, people older than the economically active ages of 15 to 64 can live with their pensions," said Lee Jun-hyup, a fellow at Hyundai Research Institute. "In Korea, aged people can't help but work because the pension system hardly supports their livelihood."
Worse yet, their employment quality is going from bad to worse.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of non-regular workers in their 60s stood at 1.33 million in March, up 12.3 percent, or 147,000, from the same month of last year. Almost nine out of 10 aged workers, or 85.4 percent of the total, are engaged in simple toil such as being guards, street-sweepers and home deliverers. Others are picking up waste paper and other scraps in the neighborhoods.
Korea is the world's 11th-largest economy and its sixth-largest exporter, but its elderly poverty rate is the highest among OECD members with 47.2 percent.
"The nation may be rich but its people are poor and its elderly citizens are poorer," said an editorial in the Dong-a Ilbo daily. "How long should aged Koreans be reduced to being rag pickers?"
When the OECD report was released, President Park Geun-hye exclaimed in France that Korea would join the Paris Club, a 20-member organization of creditor nations.
Korea's employment rate of people aged 75 and older is the highest among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And most of the elderly citizens are working not because they want to but because they must earn their living.
According to the OECD Friday, the employment rate of people aged 65 and older was 31.3 percent in Korea in 2014, the second highest rate after Finland and 2.3 times higher than the OECD average of 13.4 percent.
It was also far higher than in Japan (20.8 percent), the United Kingdom (10 percent) and Germany (5.8 percent).
Particularly, the nation's employment rate of people aged 75 and older stood at 19.2 percent, the highest among the 24 member countries available for comparison and four times higher than the OECD's average of 4.8 percent. Mexico was the only other country with a double-digit rate (15.7 percent). The corresponding rates were 8.2 percent for Japan, 2.6 percent for Britain and 0.4 percent for France.
Experts attributed the high employment rate of the aged in Korea to their insufficient preparation for life after retirement. "Old Koreans have to continue working to repay the debts they incurred in their 40s and 50s to finance their children's schooling and marriage," said Professor Shim Ji-hong of Dankook University.
Another reason is the nation's poor pension system. "In most industrial countries, people older than the economically active ages of 15 to 64 can live with their pensions," said Lee Jun-hyup, a fellow at Hyundai Research Institute. "In Korea, aged people can't help but work because the pension system hardly supports their livelihood."
Worse yet, their employment quality is going from bad to worse.
According to Statistics Korea, the number of non-regular workers in their 60s stood at 1.33 million in March, up 12.3 percent, or 147,000, from the same month of last year. Almost nine out of 10 aged workers, or 85.4 percent of the total, are engaged in simple toil such as being guards, street-sweepers and home deliverers. Others are picking up waste paper and other scraps in the neighborhoods.
Korea is the world's 11th-largest economy and its sixth-largest exporter, but its elderly poverty rate is the highest among OECD members with 47.2 percent.
"The nation may be rich but its people are poor and its elderly citizens are poorer," said an editorial in the Dong-a Ilbo daily. "How long should aged Koreans be reduced to being rag pickers?"
When the OECD report was released, President Park Geun-hye exclaimed in France that Korea would join the Paris Club, a 20-member organization of creditor nations.
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