Asian Women - The Research Institute of Asian Women
[ Article ]
Asian Women - Vol. 25, No. 4, pp.23-46
ISSN: 1225-925X (Print)
Print publication date Dec 2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14431/aw.2009.12.25.4.23

Survey Research on the Status of Job Creation and Related Programs for Elderly Women in Korea

OhJaelimLeeSook-Jeong
Sookmyung Women’s University, Korea Sookmyung Women’s University, Korea

This study examined problems concerning the elderly and related characteristics as perceived by the frontline officials in charge at senior employment assistance agencies - all based on the recognition of the need to reinforce the expertise of workers. It also examined the educational needs regarding the kind of educational programs that must be provided to help these people develop expertise in related fields. In order to accomplish the purposes of the study, the researchers distributed questionnaires to officials in government and public offices, including the Korean Senior Citizens Association, Senior Welfare Center, Seoul Senior Employment Center and Employment Service Center, from November to December in 2008.

The result shows that there are differences in purposes, targets, activities and achievements of employment assistance organizations for elderly people, which result in inefficiency and ineffectiveness. The organizations that conduct employment assistance programs for the elderly have few, if any, experts who adequately understand the particular characteristics of elderly people and who can operate and manage diverse employment programs; moreover, the capacity and skills of such experts are at beginners’ levels in terms of planning, coordination and control functions. The officials need an understanding of the developmental and psychological characteristics of female and male senior citizens that result in differentiated education strategies and programs and the creation of diverse jobs; accordingly, they urged the provision of specific and continuous education of working-level officials in charge. As such, a top priority is education to boost the capacity of working-level officials in charge, who can carry out educational programs for creating jobs that specifically cater to female seniors; to this end, national and local governments should extend steadfast and systematic assistance.

Keywords:

elderly women, job creation, vocational programs, aged society

Introduction

In recent years in South Korea, the growth of the elderly population has increased. South Korea is the world’s fastest aging country, and it is likely to be the world’s “oldest” country. It is expected to become an “aged society” in 2018, and finally, it would become a “super-aged society” in 2028 (Korea National Statistical Office [KNSO], 2008). Korea’s rapidly aging population creates a social burden that is one of the society’s most significant challenges. This challenge may be met by the involvement of the elderly in economic activities, which is another area of concern.

Elderly women, in particular, need more attention because they have a longer life expectancy but extremely lower monthly income than elderly men. Thus, building a supporting system to promote and guarantee elderly women’s economic activities is an important precondition for solving the current problems of South Korea as an aging society.

In an aging society, the economic activities of elderly people are meaningful in both individual and social points of view. With regard to the individual viewpoint, the elderly can advance their quality of life by participating in social and economic activities. With regard to the social aspect, economic activities of the elderly would contribute to reduction of the aging people’s social burden and to the development of human resource capacity.

However, although elderly people have suffered from economic difficulties and the social needs for their economic activities have increased due to the advancement of medical technology, they still lack sufficient and systemized vocational education in order to get new jobs. It is true that elderly people face various obstacles when they enter the labor market. Despite the significance of female senior citizens’ economic activities in the aging society, there is no substantial and effective system to support their economic activities and income generation. Furthermore, most researches on economic activities of the elderly population do not deal with women elderly separately but treat them as a part of the total population of elderly people. Therefore, in order to solve the economic problems of elderly women in an aging society, it is important that we study specific ways that can develop and strengthen policies for supporting elderly women’s successful economic activities.

In addition, it is essential to strengthen the capability of policy and program developers for elderly women’s career development and training. Therefore, an educational program and a effective support system for such experts should be provided. For these reasons, this paper investigates organizations and working-level officials in Seoul area with regard to the status of vocational programs for female senior citizens and tries to provide an effective and substantial guide for generating jobs and income for elderly women. In promoting human resource development for elderly women, this research suggests a vision relative to decreasing social burden, enforcing national competency, and advancing Korean and elderly women.


The Social and Economic Status of the Elderly Women in South Korea

According to the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), South Korea will be the most aged country ager after Japan by the middle of the 21st century, and labor power could decrease in twenty or thirty years. Furthermore, KNSO (2009) reported that the population size will reach its peak in 2020 and decrease thereafter. In particular, as shown in Table 1, the size of the elderly population will increase, with a rate of increase in 2050 that is 4.75 times as fast as that in 2000.

The Estimated Population and Ratio by Age Group (1980∼2050)Unit: 1,000 persons (%)

Growth in the numbers and populations of the elderly has increased pressure on long-term care and social service systems. For instance, the social burden for the elderly (over 65 years old) in South Korea has increased from 6.1% in 1980 to 10.1% in 2000, with expected increases to 37.7% in 2030 and 72.0% in 2050 (see in Table 2).

Elderly Index (1980∼2050)Unit: %

According to a recent OECD report, Gini coefficient of South Korea is 0.396, which is the second highest measure of income inequality or wealth of the elderly aged 65 and above, after Mexico (0.560).6 Income or wealth in South Korea tends to decrease after one becomes 50 years old (see Figure 1). Income in South Korea begins to decrease at much younger ages than in other countries, and at-a much faster rate than other countries.

Figure 1

International Income by Age in Selected OECD Countries7

As a super-aged society, where increasing costs of elderly care and unequal income or wealth experienced by the elderly are realities, the problem of the elderly needs to be dealt with as a social and policy issue. In particular, we need to devise policies with regard to public pension and social arrangements for a super-aged society as soon as possible because South Korea is rapidly becoming a super-aged society more quickly than any other country.

When employment of the elderly can be extended, the social burdens associated with the elderly will correspondingly decrease. Of course, the elderly might experience difficulties in finding employment, since the labor market is changing continuously. The labor market for the elderly, however, needs to be reformed with reference to the report of the OECD (2004). This report outlines how the labor market including the economic participations of the elderly can be more efficient.

The results of previous studies on employment of elderly people in Korea showed the following: (Choi & Kwon 2007; Kwon & Park, 2007). First, the employment of the elderly may be the solution to social and economic problems in South Korea. Second, it can also enhance welfare and quality of life of the elderly. Third, if the jobs of the elderly can be supplied continuously and the elderly can participate in the labor market, the economic capabilities of the elderly will also increase, which means that social burdens associated with the elderly will decrease.

Expected Life Span (2000∼2050)Unit: years

In South Korea (as shown in Table 3), men’s life expectancy was 72.25 years, women’s was 79.60 years in 2000; in 2020, men’s will be 78.04, and women’s will be 84.68; in 2050, men’s will be 82.87 and women’s will be 88.92. Although the differences between the genders have decreased, elderly women show much longer life expectancy than men. However, it is true that elderly women form the majority of the elderly-population, their monthly income is much lower than that of elderly men’s (KNSO, 2004). The average elderly men’s monthly incomes was 783,000 won, while that of elderly women’s was 299,000 won. Furthermore, as shown in Table 4, public transfer income, which includes public pension, social insurance allowance, elderly’s pension and national basic livelihood security allowance, is 201,000 won for elderly men and 63,000 won for elderly women, 139,000 won between ages of 65 and 69, 119,000 won between ages of 70 and 74, 92,000 won for elderly aged 65 and above.

Income by Sex and Age among Elderly PopulationUnit: 1,000 Korean Won

Thus, to solve the economic and social problems associated with the economic participation of the elderly, we especially need to focus on elderly women’s employment and social environment, and on policies to ensure their employment since, they experience more economic difficulties and have longer life spans. This confirms the immaturity of the public pension scheme in our society, which incites elderly women’s active participation in the labor market. Most elderly women have low literacy levels and minimal work experience. Furthermore, they have spent most of their lives taking care of household affairs, supporting their children and even caring for their grandchildren. Thus, they are at a disadvantage in their efforts to find jobs relative to elderly men. However, most of the studies about employment of the elderly deal with the entire elderly population with regard to such matters as effective senior employment program, and vocational education and training, irrespective of sex (Kwon, 2005; Kim, Lee, & Ahn, 2004; OECD, 2004); thus, studies on elderly women’s employment are rare.

Therefore, this study seeks to present effective and specific answers regarding the requisites for generating jobs and relevant education for elderly women, and the kind of education that must be provided to working-level officials in charge of related efforts; the study pursues this end by examining programs for creating jobs for elderly women and discovering problems in order to address the rising social cost resulting from a lack of social and economic systems for assisting elderly women with practical and effective economic activities, and to improve their quality of life at advanced ages.


Current Situation of Organizations and Officials In Charge of Elderly’ Employment

As examined above, the Korean government is stepping up efforts to develop a system in which elderly people can continue vocational activities in order to boost the nation’s competitiveness and to pursue sustainable growth as the country verges on becoming an aged society. As part of these efforts, the government has been implementing employment programs for the elderly (including programs for the public good, education and welfare, market participation and manpower participation) since 2004. These are national policy programs that aim to expand opportunities for healthy seniors who are willing to work to participate in social activities; the programs also seek to improve seniors’ quality of life by providing them with suitable jobs.

Specifically, elderly’ employment programs run by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs are operated by the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged under the auspices of the ministry and local governments. Related activities such as recruitment and management of participants of such programs are conducted directly by the Senior Club, the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Center, the Korea Senior Citizens’ Association, and local governments. The government is also operating an organization exclusively responsible for seniors’ employment affairs, including policy assistance, development and supply of jobs, education, public relations and promotion, evaluation, and surveys and research. (Kang, 2008, p. 136).

However, senior citizen welfare and employment programs are currently being implemented by two different government agencies, namely the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs. As a result, information is not adequately shared by the organizations that are conducting such programs, causing significant limitations in their efficiency and effect. Notably, public and private sector organizations are managing and coordinating programs for senior citizens’ employment (see Table 5), but education and cultivation of the officials responsible for the actual operation at field sites are not adequately conducted to meet the needs of the organizations that implement these programs; especially vis-à-vis understanding of senior citizens’ psychological and physical conditions and desire for work opportunities.

This has resulted in disruptions in the supply of qualified and professional manpower. Public and private sector job centers for the elderly and human resources banks for senior citizens have failed to share data and information in a systematic fashion, and are not adequately interlinked in their operation. As a result, programs are overlapping in certain cases, and the efficacy of such programs is not maximized.

Current Situation of Senior Citizen Employment Assistant Agencies and Their Operation

In addition, there are differences in purposes, targets, activities and achievements of employment assistance organizations for elderly people, which results in inefficiency and ineffectiveness. For instance, the organizations under the Ministry of Labor aim to balance manpower supply and demand in the labor market and enhance job security; those under the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs seek to improve senior citizens’ quality of life; meanwhile, those under the Seoul Metropolitan City aim to assure practical income and mental stability of the elderly. Such differences allow for diversification, but they make it impossible for these organizations to simultaneously cooperate in sharing and jointly managing information and resources, thus causing confusion among the elderly and creating inconveniences in accessing services. Even as they seek employment opportunities in ever-increasing numbers, seniors are failing to find proper employers. Even if elderly people land work, they frequently quit due to a lack of aptitude for such jobs and poor working conditions.

Notably, organizations that conduct employment assistance programs for the elderly have few, if any, experts who adequately understand the particular characteristics of elderly people and who can operate and manage diverse employment programs; moreover, the capacity and skills of such experts are at the beginners’ levels in terms of planning, coordination and control functions. Consequently, even if educational programs are offered to assist elderly people in finding employment and launching businesses, there remains a dearth of experts who can sufficiently and efficiently educate others about such programs, which in turn limits the effectiveness of such efforts. Officials in charge of such work are not paid adequately, and their job security is poor due to their employment status as temporary workers. Notably, private sector organizations generally have only one or two officials in charge of such duties, rendering it very difficult to adequately carry out practical activities (Korea Reasearch Institute for Vocational Education & Training [KRIVET], 2008, p. 25). In order to assure the consolidation and expansion of senior citizen employment assistance programs, this study has examined problems concerning the elderly and related characteristics as perceived by the frontline officials in charge at senior employment assistance agencies all based on the recognition of the need to reinforce the expertise of workers. It also examined the educational needs regarding the kind of educational programs that must be provided to help these people develop expertise in related fields.


Method

Participants

The researchers distributed questionnaires to 203 officials working at government or public offices, including the Korean Senior Citizens Association, Senior Welfare Center, Seoul Senior Employment Center and Employment Service Center, from November to December in 2008. The sample totaled 102 participants (return rate was 50.25%). Survey participants’ characteristics are presented in Table 6.

Characteristics of Survey Participants

As shown in Table 6, more women (76.5%) than men (23.5%) were represented in the sample, which shows that more women are employed in work related to elderly employment than men. Workers in their thirties made up the majority (45%), followed by those in their twenties (29.4%) and forties (25.5%). Of the total respondents, 15.7% were high school graduates, 65.7% were university graduates, and 18.6% were postgraduates. Staff constitutes 63.7%, managers 29.4%, the rest 6.9%. Those in the field less than one year made up the majority (43.1%), followed by those employed more than five years (29.4%), and those in the field between two and five years (25.5%), with missing value (2.0%).

Instrument

The survey instrument was an adaptation of former studies about elderly welfare, elderly employment and their jobs. The questionnaire consisted of two major sections including four minor parts, which had 30 items it used a mixed Likert-type scale with open-ended questions to enhance reliability and concreteness. Section 1 consisted of 16 items that are designed to gather data in three areas: participants’ basic demographic and general characteristics of the centers where they were employed, and elderly women’s thoughts (the standards which elderly women exhibit in getting their jobs). Section 2 examines the present state of elderly women’s employment and the educational needs of working-level officials (see Table 7).

Survey Questionnaires

Data Analysis

Participants in this sample were asked to complete self-report scales and were told that all of their answers would be confidential. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 12.0 program for Windows. Frequency analysis, multiple response analysis, and descriptive statistics were conducted on this sample to examine general characteristics of senior centers and elderly women, state of employment programs for elderly men and women, and educational programs for working-level officials.


Results

General Characteristics of Senior Centers

The frequency analysis was performed to examine types of senior centers and the resource of financial support for elderly employment programs (see Table 8, Table 9).

Types of Senior Centers

As shown in Table 8, the types of local government management were above 60 percentages. In details, “local government contract management” made up 31.4% of responses, “local self government” (28.4%), “a private corporation” (15.7%), “others” (11.8%), and “unincorporated private organization” (8.8%). The organizations were administrated by a commission of local self government such as an elderly employee center, or senior citizens’ welfare center, not by a district office or resident center. This result shows that public sector organizations are mainly responsible for elderly centers.

Next, the result of analysis of the financial support for elderly employment programs is presented in Table 9. Each item embraces multi-answers, which are analyzed through the multi - responses statistical method. The results are presented as followed: transfer by the foundation (6.5%), support by government (69.9%), donation (12.2%). This result indicate that each senior center rely on outside supports including government and foundation rather than its own operating expenses.

Financial Support for Elderly Employment Program (multi- responses)

General Characteristics of Elderly Women

Next, the questionnaires on the educational level of elderly men and women were administered to officials in order to investigate the provision of proper vocational programs according to the educational levels and level of understanding about employment programs. The officials responded that while over 70% of elderly men graduated high school, most of elderly women (approximately, over 80%) graduated elementary school. This result shows that there are considerable educational differences between male and female senior citizens, if so, employment programs for elderly people should be constructed based on their vocational and educational capacities and understanding level of the characteristics of jobs.

Next, the officials in each center were asked about the reasons why female seniors’ work and do not work. First, the results of analysis shows that most elderly women want to work “for financial reasons” (40.3%) and “to pay for health care” (18.6%). This result indicates that elderly women want to get a job and earn the money for their life expense including health care fee.

Reason Why Elderly Women Work and Do not Work (multi-responses)

While, the result of the analysis of the reasons why elderly women do not work shows that unemployment of elderly women is mainly caused by social structural problems (e.g., “no opportunity to work” [32.1%], “household chores” [16.3%]), not by individualistic factors. This result is consistent with other studies documenting the link between elderly women and poverty (KRIVET, 2008). Furthermore, the answer “household chores” makes the majority of the responses, which shows that elderly women are still more responsible for household chores than elderly men during old ages. According to the responses of officials in senior centers, this condition makes elderly women to prefer part - time jobs (56.9%) to full - time jobs (35.3%). These results support previous studies (e.g., Kang, 2008; Park, 2006) related the necessity of creating job and employment programs to meet elderly women’ desire to work.

Jobs Elderly Women Want to Get

Present State of Employment Programs for Elderly Women

To investigate the present state of main and complementary employment programs for elderly women, a few questionnaires were administered to officials. The results of analysis of present programs of each organization are shown in Table 12. The programs are divided into three steps: pre-employment programs, employment programs, and post-employment programs. Pre-employment programs include job information, job counseling, job creation, vocational education, and vocational aptitude tests, and so on. Employment programs include shared work system, public works programs by a hall for the aged, and employment enterprise for the elderly supported by Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs. Post-employment programs include management programs to assist the elderly with handling their responsibilities after they find employment.

Employment Programs for Elderly Women (multi-responses)

As shown in Table 12, Job information (18.6%), employment enterprise (18.6%), job counseling (17.2%), and Job creation (14.9%) are mainly applied in senior centers. However, although diverse programs have been offered to the elderly, considering the range of all percentages (under 20%), it is not enough to get the real efficacy through these programs. Furthermore, more severe problems include the level of application of vocational education, vocational aptitude test and public works programs (approximately, under 8.0%). This shows that diverse vocational programs to assist the elderly employment have been a serious lack of efforts on the part of the government and organizations. Thus, it is necessary to develop employment programs designed to cultivate potential capacities for senior citizens and to provide systematic programs to benefit finding a new job.

Difficulties in Vocational Education for Elderly People

We examined the difficulties and barriers working-level officials in charge of job creation experience in the course of offering vocational education to elderly people. The results are presented in Table 13. We broke down the examination into categories of elderly men and women, and as a result of the survey, found that said officials have different perceptions towards elderly men and women.

Difficulties of Elderly Men and Women in Vocational Education

Firstly, when examining elderly men, they singled out “negative attitude towards vocational education” (17.6%) as the biggest challenge, followed by “sense of rigidity toward reemployment,” “working conditions,” “authoritative attitude,” and “low educational levels.” Since elderly men have more vocational experiences, they showed a stronger sense of rigidity toward reemployment. Elderly men also showed the tendency to insist on primacy of social status and roles they enjoyed in the past, with a preference for office work and managerial roles similar to their work in the past. However, that sense of rigidity toward reemployment was shown to reduce their understanding for vocational transition, resulting in a lack of cooperation and a passive attitude towards vocational education; such rigidity thus negatively affects vocational education or the introduction of jobs to such people. In addition, the sense of authority demonstrated by senior men is a characteristic not found in elderly women, an element that effectively demonstrates the patriarchic traditions of Korean society. Such a sense of authority is linked with working conditions, and serves as an obstacle in the effort to provide suitable jobs to the elderly. Other issues reported included personal hygiene concerning clothing and appearance, as well as health problems.

In contrast, officials singled out “negative attitude towards vocational education” (12.7%) as the biggest challenge they face when offering vocational education to elderly women, which is similar to the answer given in regard to elderly men. “Low education levels and a low level of understanding about educated subjects” came next, a finding that is different from that for elderly males. This effectively suggests an empirical result that female seniors, when offered vocational training and jobs, require education and understanding differentiated from that for elderly males. On top of these issues, other challenges cited included “working conditions,” “limited types of desired jobs” and “low levels of experience.” Elderly women often tried to avoid labor-intensive jobs, and expressed a desire for part-time jobs for the purpose of killing time while taking into account commuting distance and pay. Also, a lack of work experience among elderly women, including a lack of professional licenses and experience, as well as discontinuous career activities, suggested a need for education programs differentiated from those for elderly men. Also, “difficulties in the use of time” was another special element unique to elderly women, a factor that was found to stem from the lack of time they allocated to vocational education and difficulties in the use of time due to their childrearing and caring for their grandchildren. Notably, work for childrearing is an assignment that is taken up mostly by females, even at advanced ages; this seems to be an issue that must be considered critically in that it could affect not only vocational education, but also employment itself

The Level of Participation in Education Programs (multi-responses)Unit: N (%)

We examined the officials’ level of participation in education programs designed to improve their expertise as frontline officials in charge of job creation for elderly people (see Table 14). The results suggested that most of them replied they had a chance to participate in education on “welfare policy for elderly people,” and “policy on employment of elderly people” but over 30 percentage of those officials still replied that they never participated in such basic education, reflecting a situation wherein systematic education is not offered to those officials in charge of senior citizen employment.

Next, the officials surveyed said they had participated in education programs concerning “planning of life at advanced ages” and “development of programs for pre-employment education.” However, they had very few chances to participate in educational courses on “start-ups by elderly people,” “understanding about and counseling for elderly women,” and “development of types of jobs for elderly women.” This suggests that education concerning elderly people’s employment and business start-ups is not being conducted in a detailed and systematic fashion and, notably, that education specifically catering to the special needs of senior women is also lacking to a significant degree. Hence, various practical education programs will likely have to be added and supplemented.

In order to figure out how working-level officials in the field feel about the types of education they urgently need, we conducted a corresponding survey and analyzed the results. To understand the levels and gaps concerning the need for education, the survey used five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from “very necessary” to “absolutely not necessary.” The results are presented in Table 15.

The areas working-level officials said they most needed education in was, as expected, “policy on employment of elderly people,” followed by “development of job types suitable for elderly women,” “policy on senior citizens’ welfare,” “planning of life at advanced ages,” and “counseling of elderly women.” What should be noted here is that those officials expressed a strong need for “development of job types suitable for elderly women.” In light of the challenges concerning the conduct of employment education for senior men and women examined above, these findings suggest the need for the development of jobs that take into account the characteristics unique to female seniors, in addition to the characteristics of seniors as a whole.

Educational Programs for Officials


Discussion

Amid the Korean trend of an aging society, in which female seniors’ economic activities and income generation are increasingly important, this study seeks to present effective and specific answers regarding the requisites for generating jobs and relevant education for elderly women, and the kinds of education that must be provided to working-level officials in charge of related efforts; the study pursues this end by examining programs for creating jobs for elderly women and discovering problems in order to address the rising social cost resulting from a lack of social and economic systems for assisting elderly women with practical and effective economic activities, and to improve their quality of life at advanced ages.

In spite of the importance of elderly women’ economic activities, conventional studies on senior citizens’economic activities treated the elderly as a single demographic, and thus only focused on their economic activities, the development of their vocational capacity, and the effect of projects for their employment; such studies failed to effectively reflect the population growth of elderly women and the need for their economic activities. Moreover, a lack of specific policy related to these issues has spawned a lack of systems for education of working-level officials in charge of senior citizen employment. The results of surveys in this study also empirically demonstrate these problems.

There are many fundamental reasons why such problems occur. However, one reason is that whereas the programs to assist senior citizen employment have expanded in scale, there has been a serious lack of efforts on the part of the government and organizations assisting in senior citizen employment to develop curricula on education and training programs and to establish training facilities (Park, 2006). Thus far, education for seniors seeking to launch businesses and secure employment has been offered by social welfare centers, religious organizations, social education institutions at universities and other private sector agencies through activities focused on entertainment and recreation in the name of senior citizens’schools, senior citizens’ universities and courses as part of lifelong education programs. Hence, efforts to develop systematic and sustainable programs and to offer relevant assistance have been insufficient at best. As such, it is necessary to develop and propagate education about the various types of vocations that can sufficiently cater to the particular needs and characteristics of senior citizens. To this end, it is essential to develop programs designed to cultivate and educate rank and file officials in charge of field operations (as well as an evaluation process for such programs), and to provide systematic and constant support to such officials. The cultivation and systematic education of those experts who will conduct such activities are urgently required.

Working-level officials at the frontlines who participated in this study also say they need an understanding of the developmental and psychological characteristics of elderly men and women that results in differentiated education strategies and programs and the creation of diverse jobs; accordingly, they urged the provision of specific and continuous education of working-level officials in charge. A string of activities aimed at developing female seniors as human resources is important not only for the easing of social and economic costs for elderly nursing care, but also for enhancing national competitiveness amid Korea’s aging society.

As such, a top priority is education to boost the capacity of working-level officials in charge, who can carry out educational programs for creating jobs that specifically cater to female seniors; to this end, the national and local governments should extend steadfast and systematic assistance. Moreover, since those officials are having a hard time discovering and developing employers of elderly people, it will be necessary to offer education programs on developing strategies for discovering employers and case studies, and to establish networks between those officials to allow them to share such experiences.

Notes

1 Corresponding Author, suzanne@sm.ac.kr

2 Total cost: cost for youth care + cost for elderly care

3 Cost for youth care: between the ages of zero and 14 / between the ages of 15 and 64

4 Cost for elderly care: over 65 years old / between the ages of 15 and 64

5 Elderly Index: elderly aged 65 / between ages of zero and 14

6 The Gini coefficient of South Korea was 0.316 in Asian financial crisis with the International Monetary Fund (The World Bank, 2004). Gini coefficient can range from zero to one, a low Gini coefficient indicates a more equal distribution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginicoefficient).

7 Note. From OECD Report (2008), p. 64.

References

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Figure 1

Figure 1
International Income by Age in Selected OECD Countries7

Table 1

The Estimated Population and Ratio by Age Group (1980∼2050)Unit: 1,000 persons (%)

Ages\Year 1980 2000 2020 2030 2040 2050
Total 38,124 47,008 49,326 48,635 46,343 42,343
0-14 years 12,951(34) 9,911(21.1) 6,118(12.4) 5,525(11.4) 4,777(10.3) 3,763(8.9)
15-64 years 23,717(62.2) 33,702(71.7) 35,506(72.0) 31,299(64.4) 26,525(57.2) 22,424(53.0)
over 65 years 1,456(3.8) 3,395(7.2) 7,701(15.6) 11,811(24.3) 15,041(32.5) 16,156(38.2)

Table 2

Elderly Index (1980∼2050)Unit: %

Index\Year 1980 2000 2020 2030 2040 2050
Total cost2 60.7 39.5 38.9 55.4 74.7 88.8
Cost for youth care3 54.6 29.4 17.2 17.7 18.0 16.8
Cost for elderly care4 6.1 10.1 21.7 37.7 56.7 72.0
Elderly index5 11.2 34.3 125.9 213.8 314.8 429.3

Table 3

Expected Life Span (2000∼2050)Unit: years

sex\Year 1980 2000 2020 2030 2040 2050
Total 76.02 79.60 81.45 83.13 84.65 86.02
Men (A) 72.25 76.15 78.04 79.79 81.39 82.87
Women (B) 79.60 82.88 84.68 86.27 87.67 88.92
Difference (B-A) 7.35 6.73 6.63 6.48 6.28 6.05

Table 4

Income by Sex and Age among Elderly PopulationUnit: 1,000 Korean Won

Earned/Business/Subsidiary Income Asset Income Public Transfer Income Private Transfer Income Monthly Income (total)
Elderly Men 720 710 201 167 783
Elderly Women 310 411 63 181 299
65~69 years 702 678 139 181 641
70~74 years 423 488 119 171 432
Over 75years 274 620 92 175 337

Table 5

Current Situation of Senior Citizen Employment Assistant Agencies and Their Operation

Established by Korea Ministry of Labor Korea Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs The Metropolis of Seoul
Project conducted by Job Centers (87 centers),
Human Resources Banks for Senior Citizens (49 banks),
Employment Center for Veteran Workers (1)
Senior Clubs (38),
Senior Citizens’ Welfare Centers (128)
Senior Citizens’ Employment Assistance Center under the Korea Senior Citizens’ Association (252) Senior Citizens’ Employment Center under Seoul Metropolitan City (17)
the Korea Senior Citizens’ Association, Municipal YWCA Social Welfare Centers, Local Women’s Workforce Development Center, Korea Association for Retired People, etc Local governments, Social welfare organizations, Religious organizations Branches of the Korea Senior Citizens’ Association Senior citizens’ employment assistance center
Areas of projects Job creation, employment assistance and education Job creation and employment assistance Employment assistance Employment assistance and education

Table 6

Characteristics of Survey Participants

Variables N %
Sex Men 24 23.5
Women 78 76.5
Age Twenties 30 29.4
Thirties 45 44.1
Forties 26 25.5
Missing value 1 1.0
Educational Level High school 16 15.7
University 67 65.7
Graduate school 19 18.6
Position Staff 65 63.7
Managers 30 29.4
The others 7 6.9
Career Less than 1 year 44 43.1
Between 2 and 5 years 26 25.5
More than 5 years 30 29.4
Missing value 2 2.0

Table 7

Survey Questionnaires

Subject of Questionnaires No. of Questions
Section 1 General characteristics of participants and organizations 10
Elderly women’s thoughts 6
Section 2 Present state of elderly women’s employment programs 6
The educational needs of officials 8
Total 30

Table 8

Types of Senior Centers

Types of senior centers N %
Local self government 29 28.4
Local government contract management 32 31.4
Private corporation 16 15.7
Unincorporated private organization 9 8.8
Others 12 11.8
Missing 4 3.9
Total 102 100

Table 9

Financial Support for Elderly Employment Program (multi- responses)

financial support N %
Transfer by the foundation 8 6.5
Support by government 86 69.9
Donation 15 12.2
Others 14 11.4
Total 123 100.0

Table 10

Reason Why Elderly Women Work and Do not Work (multi-responses)

Work N % Do not work N %
Preference for working 30 13.6 Do not want to work 11 5.6
Financial reasons 89 40.3 No need to work (well off) 16 8.2
To pay for health care 41 18.6 Poor health 54 27.6
To meet friends 12 5.4 No opportunity to work 63 32.1
Just utilize time 32 14.5 Household chores 32 16.3
Recognition of their own capability 15 6.8 Children do not want 11 5.6
The others 2 0.9 The others 9 4.6

Table 11

Jobs Elderly Women Want to Get

N %
Part-time jobs for allowance (between 2days and 3days per week) 58 56.9
Full-time jobs for living expense (more than 5 days per week) 36 35.3
The others 2 2.0
Missing value 6 5.9
Total 102 100

Table 12

Employment Programs for Elderly Women (multi-responses)

Job information 82 18.6
Employment enterprise 82 18.6
Job counseling 76 17.2
Job creation 66 14.9
Post-employment programs 63 14.3
Vocational education 35 7.9
Public works programs 23 5.2
Vocational aptitude test 7 1.6
The others 8 1.8

Table 13

Difficulties of Elderly Men and Women in Vocational Education

Elderly Men Elderly Women
Difficulties N % Difficulties N %
Negative attitude towards vocational education 18 17.6 Negative attitude towards vocational education 13 12.7
Sense of rigidity on reemployment 7 6.9 Low educational levels and a low level of understanding 12 11.8
Working conditions 7 6.9 Working conditions 11 10.8
Authoritative attitude 5 4.9 Limited types of desired jobs 3 2.9
Low educational levels 2 2.0 Low levels of experience 3 2.9
Problems of vocational education system 2 2.0 Difficulties in the use of time 2 2.0
The others 6 5.9 The others 5 5.9
None 5 4.9 None 6 4.9
Missing value 50 49.0 Missing value 47 46.1
Total 102 100 Total 102 100

Table 14

The Level of Participation in Education Programs (multi-responses)Unit: N (%)

Education Programs Yes No Missing
Welfare policy for elderly people 59(57.8) 36(35.3) 7(6.9)
Policy on employment of elderly people 63(61.8) 33(32.4) 6(5.9)
Planning of life at advanced ages 25(24.5) 67(65.7) 10(9.8)
Development of programs for pre-employment education 21(20.6) 70(68.6) 11(10.8)
Start-ups by elderly people 17(16.7) 76(74.5) 9(8.8)
Understanding about elderly women 11(10.8) 81(79.4) 10(9.8)
Counseling for elderly women 13(12.7) 78(76.5) 11(10.8)
Development of types of jobs for elderly women 10(9.8) 81(79.4) 11(10.8)
Retirement preparation programs for elderly women 7(6.9) 84(82.4) 11(10.8)

Table 15

Educational Programs for Officials

The need for education M SD
Policy on employment of elderly people 4.27 .64
Development of job types suitable for elderly women 4.13 .75
Welfare policy for elderly people 4.06 .61
Planning of life at advanced ages 4.00 .73
Counseling of elderly women 3.95 .65
Development of pre-employment education program 3.94 .69
The retirement program for elderly people 3.90 .65
Understanding about elderly women 3.83 .72
Start-ups by elderly people 3.62 .83