South Korea Ranks First in Elderly Poverty Among OECD Countries

South Korea has once again topped the list for the highest elderly poverty rate among the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries.

It was found that one in every two elderly people aged 76 and over in South Korea is included in the poor side of the community.

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 19th, the OECD recently released a ‘Pensions at a Glance 2023’ report.

Based on the data from 2020, the income poverty rate of the elderly population aged 66 and over in South Korea was 40.4%. This is nearly triple the OECD member country average of 14.2%. South Korea was the only country among the OECD members where the income poverty rate of the elderly reached over 40%.

Countries with low-income poverty rates for the elderly population included Iceland (3.1%), Norway (3.8%), Denmark (4.3%), and France (4.4%), primarily in Northern and Western Europe.

The poverty rate among the elderly in South Korea worsened with age.

The income poverty rate among the elderly population aged 66 to 75 was 31.4%. However, for those aged 76 and over, it was 52.0%, indicating that more than one in two people belonged to the impoverished class.

When broken down by gender, the income poverty rate for South Korean women aged 66 and over was 45.3%. This was 11.3 percentage points higher than that of men (34.0%). The OECD average was 11.1% for men and 16.5% for women.

To this, the OECD stated, “Elderly women have lower income-related pension benefits and longer life expectancy, which results in a higher poverty rate than elderly men. In South Korea, the poverty rate difference between elderly men and women exceeds 11 percentage points, indicating a relatively large gap.”

Kim Won-seop, a sociology professor at Korea University, stated to Yonhap News, “In Korea, seniors typically continue to work until around the age of 70. However, public pension expenditures, accounting for only 3.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), are merely half the OECD average. This inadequacy contributes to the occurrence of elderly poverty.”

He added, “Public pension expenditures should be raised to the OECD average level, and especially, the basic pension expenditure, which can show immediate effects, needs to be increased.

By. Ki Young Son