An old man pushing a trolley loaded with cardboard for recycling, a common scene in South Korea, where a rising number of elderly people live in poverty. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 70 percent of seniors over 60 years of age still work to make an income and live separately from their children, a survey showed Wednesday.
The biennial poll released by Statistics Korea showed that 72.5 percent of South Korean seniors picked themselves or their spouse as a source of income.
Only 14.1 percent relied on financial support from their children or other family members, while 13.4 percent relied on support from the government or welfare agencies.
Contrary to the rising number of seniors making income on their own or from the government or welfare agencies since 2011, fewer seniors are being supported by their children or other family members.
At 69.2 percent, more than two thirds of seniors over 60 years of age lived separately from their children, while 77.2 percent wanted to continue living separately from them, indicating that more seniors prefer living independently.
Roughly two thirds of the population over 19 years of age said they were preparing or had prepared for retirement, 59.1 percent of whom said they were contributing to the national pension plan.
Among the respondents, 36.8 percent of those who felt unprepared for retirement believed they lacked the capacity to prepare for retirement, while 36.2 percent said they plan to begin preparing for retirement in the near future.
The statistics agency conducted the social survey on social welfare, labor and others on some 36,000 people between May 12 and 27.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
