Photo : KBS News
A third of seniors in South Korea live by themselves.
According to the health ministry’s survey of ten-thousand-78 seniors aged 65 or older in 2023, 32-point-eight percent of the nation’s elderly lived in a single-person household, up 13 percentage points from 2020.
Seniors who lived alongside their spouse took up 55-point-two percent of the total elderly population, while those living with their children fell 20-point-one percent during the three-year period to ten-point-three percent.
Thirty-four-point-two percent of seniors living alone said they were healthy, compared to 48-point-six percent among elderly couples who gave the same response. Sixty-four-point-nine percent kept contact with their children, down from 67-point-eight percent in 2020.
As the first generation of baby boomers born between 1955 and 1964 began entering their seniority, the nation’s elderly became highly educated, earned more income, and had greater assets.
The number of high school graduates rose from 28-point-four to 31-point-two percent, while the average income stood at 34-point-69 million won, or around 25-thousand U.S. dollars, up from 30-point-27 million won.