“It seems many of those in their 70s or older are now living alone, whereas 10 years ago they would have lived with their offspring,” a Statistics Korea official said. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — The population movement rate for those in their 70s nearly halved in the past decade, government data showed Wednesday, as a growing number of senior citizens shy away from living with their children even after the death of their spouse. The rate fell to 7.0 percent last year from 12.1 percent in 2007, according to data by Statistics Korea.
The comparable figures for those in their 80s dropped to 8.2 percent from 18.5 percent during the same time span.
“It seems many of those in their 70s or older are now living alone, whereas 10 years ago they would have lived with their offspring,” a Statistics Korea official said.
The number of single-person households headed by people in their 70s or older rose 85.9 percent to 1.05 million in 2015 from 2005, according to figures provided by the National Assembly Budget Office.
About 86.9 percent of such households were headed by a person who was separated from their spouse, the office data said.
The overall population movement rate also declined to 14 percent last year from 18.5 percent in 2007, the state data showed.
The population movement rate for those in their 20s dropped to 21.4 percent last year from 26.7 percent in 2007.
The figures for those in their 30s fell to 21.0 percent from 23.8 percent during the period.
(Yonhap)
