Research has shown that elderly citizens over the age of 60 in Korea spend almost half of their free time watching TV. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Research has shown that elderly citizens over the age of 60 in Korea spend almost half of their free time watching TV.
The ‘Retirement Report No.22′, issued by the Mirae Asset Retirement Research Institute, revealed that the elderly over 60 spent 47.9 percent of their free time ‘watching real time TV’.
‘Hanging out with people’ (11.5 percent) ranked second, followed by ‘exercise’ (10.3 percent), and ‘commuting’ (6.8 percent). ‘Taking care of family’ (4.2 percent) and ‘learning’ (2.4 percent) were also mentioned as activities of the elderly.
The results are part of an analysis of the ’2014 Living Time Use’ survey. According to the research institute, assuming that the average life span is 85 years, and retirement happens at 60, the average individual has 108,463 hours of available time excluding time used for eating, sleeping and resting due to illness.
The results showed that 61 percent of the time was spent as ‘free time’, and the rest was distributed on economical activities and housework.
Researchers from the institute commented that according to the analysis, those who retire at 60 use at least one third of the time they can spend until they die (33,200 hours) watching TV. “The time doing more active things like exercising and learning should be increased.”
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
