Senior citizens wait for the delivery of meals offered for free at a park in Seoul on Aug. 2, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Altough South Korea has a national pension service along with a basic pension for the elderly, the poverty rate among seniors remains high.
According to the data from Statistics Korea, the poverty rate among seniors in the country stood at 37.6 percent in 2021, down by 1.3 percentage points from the previous year.
Despite decreasing for two consecutive years, the rate is still higher than in other nations.
In an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of poverty among seniors over 66 years of age, the poverty rate in South Korea stood at 43.4 percent as of 2018, topping all member states, and three times higher than the OECD average.
Relative poverty among seniors continues, despite the improved pension system.
The South Korean government introduced a basic pension system that disburses 200,000 won (US$153) to seniors over 65 years of age who are placed in the lower 70 percent of the income tier.
As of this year, the payment disbursed by the basic pension has jumped to 323,180 won.
The pension system, therefore, is showing no more than a limited effect.
The National Pension Research Center reported last year that only 2.9 percent of the senior population over 65 years of age were relieved of poverty in 2020.
Considering that consumer prices jumped sharply last year, a nominal raise in the basic pension would not be enough to overcome poverty.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
