By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
Baby boomers, who have played a key role in Korea's industrialization, are being squeezed between the dual responsibility of supporting their parents and raising their children, leaving themselves ill prepared for retirement.
According to Statistics Korea, baby boomers, born between 1955 and 1963 when the birth rate rose steeply after the 1950-1953 Korean War, account for 14.6 percent of the total population.
They have been the main pillar of the economy, enduring the era of industrialization, the Asian financial crisis, and most recently, the global financial crisis.
The baby boomer generation will begin massive retirement this year, but they are left without enough savings to do so.
Statistics shows that 70 percent of baby boomers provide financial support for their parents. However, their parents had not supported them enough while they were growing up. About 64 percent felt they didn't pursue as much education as they wanted, mostly due to economic problems. It was more so with female baby boomers, with seven out of 10 indicating that they didn't receive as much formal education as they had desired.
This generation in general, meanwhile, does everything possible for their children's education. Over 99 percent believe they should support their children through college education, while 83.1 percent find having to provide for their children's education is burdensome.
Financial responsibility to their children doesn't come to an end even after sending them through school. Nine out of 10 baby boomers also believe that they should shoulder the wedding expenses of their children.
They are likely to face problems after retirement due to the "endless sacrifice." While 80 percent stated that they are preparing for life after retirement, most of them are depending on a state pension as the key means of living, which is not nearly enough to maintain the quality of life they enjoyed before retiring.
"Baby boomers are not prepared for retirement. A multiple layer of social safety nets should be prepared," the statistical office said.
Statistics showed that they are under more stress than the rest of the population, with 65.2 percent saying that they feel a great deal of pressure both at home and at work, higher than the average 60.4 percent of the whole population. Over 7 percent of baby boomers said that they have considered suicide during the past year, with more than half of them citing economic difficulties as the main cause.
They also turned out to be generally unsatisfied with the relationships with their parents, brothers and sisters, or in-laws.
