South Korea’s elderly poverty rate is the highest among major developed countries, even when considering assets in addition to income. (Image courtesy of Yonhap News)
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – A researcher from a renowned national institution has asserted that South Korea’s elderly poverty rate is the highest among major developed countries, even when considering assets in addition to income.
Until now, it has been argued that calculating the elderly poverty rate solely based on income levels is an illusion, given the high proportion of property in the asset portfolio of elderly Koreans.
However, the researcher stressed that the nation’s elderly poverty rate remains higher than that of other developed countries, even when combining income and asset levels.
On Monday, Lee Seung-hee, a research fellow at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), released a report titled ‘Elderly Poverty and Policy Direction: An Analysis Based on Income and Assets.’
In the report, he stated that when assessing comprehensive income, the nation’s elderly poverty rate stood at 34.8 percent as of 2017.
This rate is the highest among eight major countries, including Germany at 11.8 percent, the U.K. at 9.8 percent, and the U.S. at 10.8 percent, as of 2016.
Comprehensive income encompasses income, including imputed rent, for those who have their own real estate.
Homeowners, as opposed to renters, can spend an amount equivalent to monthly rent, resulting in a higher calculated income.
However, even when transforming assets like properties into a form of pension such as a housing annuity, the nation’s elderly poverty rate is estimated to be 26.7 percent. This rate is still the highest among eight major countries, surpassing the U.S. at 9 percent, Germany at 10.7 percent and the U.K. at 6.6 percent as of 2016.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
