A senior citizen reads a flyer at a job fair in western Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 15, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — One in 5 South Korean seniors over 65 years of age lives alone, with each of them earning less than seniors in households where two or more seniors live together, data showed Thursday.
According to data from Statistics Korea, there were 1.97 million single-person households among the senior population over 65 years of age last year, accounting for 21.8 percent of the total, setting a new record.
The increase in single-person households can be attributed to changing perceptions about family, along with divorce and the loss of spouses through death.
The number of single-person households in the country surged from 2.2 million in 2000 to 4.14 million in 2010, and further to 7.5 million in 2020.
The number of seniors living alone also saw a significant increase, rising from 1.22 million in 2015 to 1.45 million in 2018 and reaching 1.82 million in 2021. Each of these individuals earned less than seniors who lived with others in a household.
According to Statistics Korea, households where the head of the household is over 65 years of age, with two or more household members, earned 3.76 million won (US$2,870) per month as of the fourth quarter last year.
In contrast, a senior living alone earned only 1.57 million won per month.
Seniors living alone were also more likely to face unemployment, and those who were employed tended to hold more unstable job positions.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
