POVERTY

Taken by Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald

Poverty Terms
Elderly defined as persons age 65 and over
To be considered an elderly household, there must be at least one elderly
resident

Poverty rate defined as households that earn 50% or less of median household
disposable outcome
About 49.6% of the elderly in Korea live in poverty (2012),
steadily increasing from 45% in 2008
Korea ranks the highest by far among OECD members
in regards to percentage of elderly living in poverty
(no other OECD countrys level exceeds 35%)

Poverty rate among the elderly continues to

increase
Relatively new pension system
National system began in 1988 and provides under $200 a month
South Korea has one of the lowest pension replacement rates at 45.2%, far
below the average 65.9% and recommended 70-80%
Growing trend of adult children forming nuclear family households with fewer
obligations to make sacrifices for aging parents
More women in the workforce with few to no resources to help with child and
elderly care
Attitudes towards elderly are increasingly bitter
Rapidly aging population
high life expectancy coupled with low fertility rate

Quality of life among the elderly remains poor

Even though Koreans between the ages of 55
and 79 are becoming more willing to stay in the
workforce over the years, wages are still low
Low wage workers cannot contribute to
pensions
Wages for elderly men are about 86.4% of
the overall average and 53.1% for elderly
women
Ranked highest suicide rate among OECD
countries for a decade straight
Elderly parents, especially those living
alone, feel pressured to commit suicide so
as not to be a burden to their children
Elderly suicides are often well planned, with
wills written and funeral pictures taken in
advance

Solutions
Educating poor households to increase the likelihood of people rising out of poverty

More government involvement in the welfare system

South Korea believes wholeheartedly in the trickle down effect and focuses on
building up the economy, sending companies like Samsung and Hyundai to
incredible heights
However, rather than distribute some of those earnings back into the public,
the companies hold onto them
This causes a socioeconomic gap between the rich and poor, and fewer
opportunities for low wage workers to earn enough to support themselves after
retirement
More resources for senior care to alleviate the burden from adult children, especially
the wives of elder sons
More training to identify suicidal ideations among the elderly