Tapgol Park, located in central Seoul, is a popular destination for local seniors. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Social networks among senior citizens in South Korea turned out to be worst among leading advanced nations.
Social networks are normally built on social activities such as leisure or attending religious institutions.
Experts argue that male seniors with low income, low education, and who are living alone are most likely to be severed from social networks.
Statistics Korea reported on Monday that social relationships among South Korean seniors over 50 years of age received a mark of 60.9 percent, which was the lowest among 33 states as reported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The percentage represents how well seniors are connected with family, friends, and neighbors to receive help whenever they are in need.
In the case of South Korea, the percentage was far below the OECD average of 87.1 percent. Other OECD states with poor social networks among senior citizens included Turkey (67.6 percent), Greece (73.9 percent), and Chile (75.7 percent).
Social networking among the economically inactive population who don’t engage in either economic or social activities turned out to be particularly weak among senior citizens.
Senior citizens aged between 65 and 84 comprise 56.6 percent of the entire population that is economically inactive. Among them, men accounted for 47.2 percent, while 64 percent were women.
Economically and socially inactive senior citizens said they had an average of 4.1 people nearby to call for help, which is lower than the rate among the socially active senior citizens engaging in religious, community, and leisure activities (5.2 people) and among economically active senior citizens (4.3 people).
Male seniors among the economically and socially inactive population had the least number of people available to call for help (3.9 people).
An analysis on the senior population of 6.7 million people showed that those who are men, old, less educated, divorced or widowed are more likely to be economically and socially inactive.
The economically and socially inactive population tended to concentrate less on heads of households than those who were not, and those who were living alone.
“Senior males with low income, living alone in either a leased or rented home in urban area are most likely to be severed from society,” said the report.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
