Senior citizens are grappling with worsening poverty, raising the specter that these problems could escalate into a far-reaching national disaster unless addressed properly.
According to a report released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, South Korea ranked the second lowest among the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in spending on welfare for the elderly. From 2006 to 2008, state welfare spending on this sector of the population remained at 1.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) on average, only ahead of Mexico. This compares with the OECD average of 6.8 percent and Japan’s 8.9 percent.
In contrast, South Korea ranked last in the OECD in terms of the poverty rate among senior citizens. In 2011, the percentage of people aged 65 and over living with less than 50 percent of median household income reached 45.1 percent, compared with the OECD average of 13.5 percent. In particular, the poverty rate among senior citizens who live alone went up to 77 percent, more than triple the OECD average of 25 percent.
Given that the nation’s aging of its population is the fastest in the world, the time is long overdue to tackle the problem of poverty among the elderly more actively. The percentage of senior citizens to the population here is forecast to soar from 11.8 percent last year to 24.3 percent in 2030 and 37.4 percent in 2050.
The relative seriousness of the poverty problem that senior citizens face is confirmed by the fact that South Korea’s poverty rate covering all age groups is ranked sixth in the world along with Poland.
In general, the more countries spend on welfare for the elderly, the lower their poverty rates are. All this explains why the government should continue to increase spending on their welfare.
It’s worth noting advice given by experts who say that to lower the poverty rate at a faster pace, the government needs to increase cash support for the elderly rather than provide indirect welfare services. But this is not a simple matter, considering that expanding this will require many more civil servants in charge of welfare.
Given this, President Park Geun-hye’s plan to tackle low income among the elderly through the "People’s Happiness Pension" is a step in the right direction. What’s important is to improve conditions for senior citizens while maintaining the country’s fiscal health. Needless to say, the government must also do what it can to ease the problems of elderly people such as extending the retirement age and expanding job sharing.