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)
SUWON, May 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Most senior citizens in South Korea want to continue working until the age of 71, a recent survey showed.
The Gyeonggi Research Institute conducted a nationwide survey of 500 employed seniors over 60 years of age, 97.6 percent of whom wanted to continue working.
Among them, 46.3 percent wanted to continue working as long as they remained healthy, while 38.1 percent said they needed to make money.
Respondents wanted to work until the average age of 71.
Among the respondents, 63 percent believed that their level of productivity was more or less the same or higher than before retirement.
When choosing work, they first looked at employment stability (22.8 percent), workload and working hours (21.4 percent) and salary (17.8 percent).
The difficulties they faced at work included low wages (24.2 percent), physical difficulties (17.4 percent) and age differences (14.1 percent).
Statistics Korea reported last year that seniors earn an average of 1,674,000 won (US$1,300) every month, which amounts to 61.2 percent of the national average (2,734,000 won).
“Seniors who need a job to sustain their livelihood are less likely to oppose poor working conditions and unfair treatment,” said Kim Yoon-young, a researcher at the Gyeonggi Research Institute.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
