In the second quarter of this year, 3.94 m people aged 65 and over were employed every month, according to the latest figures from South Korea’s statistics office, outpacing the 3.807 m employed between the ages of 15 and 29. According to South Korea’s“Local World” website reported 22, this is the first time since 1989 since the beginning of the relevant statistics. In the first quarter of 1989, the number of young people employed in South Korea (4,874,000) was about 13 times the number of people over the age of 65(382,000) .
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the rise in the number of older workers was the result of a long period of low birth rates and population ageing. At the end of 1992, South Korea first carried out the resident registration population statistics, when the elderly population of 2.36 million, 18% of the youth population. In February 2022, the number of elderly people reached 8.94 million, more than the number of young people. South Korea’s elderly population has passed 10 million this year, rising to 10,068,000 in August, or 19.6% of the total population, which means the country is moving towards a super-old society.
Economic pressure is also one of the incentives for older people to continue working. Due to the high poverty rate of the Korean elderly, many of the elderly to make up for the lack of pension options to re-enter the workplace. In addition, the South Korean annuity (pension) is relatively low, the average monthly 600,000 won (about 3,180 yuan) and gradually deferred age.
Kim Ji-yeon, a researcher at the Korea Development and research institute (KDI) , said the relatively good health of people in their 60s, coupled with higher education levels, had enabled many older people to continue working, the report said.