"Sad and Lonely Parents' Day" Over 350,000 Elderly Living Alone in Seoul... Increasing Concerns Over Solitary Deaths

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[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] As Parents' Day approaches, it has been revealed that the elderly population living alone in Seoul has exceeded 350,000.

According to Yonhap News on the 8th, based on data from Statistics Korea, the number of single-person households aged 60 or older residing in Seoul was counted at 355,000 in 2020. This is an 8.9% increase compared to 326,000 in 2019.

The number of elderly single-person households is expected to increase further due to the intensification of nuclear families. The elderly population aged 65 or older in Seoul is projected to continue rising from 1,549,000 last year to 2,219,000 in 2030, 2,827,000 in 2040, and 3,048,000 in 2047.

Accordingly, concerns are emerging that poverty in old age and solitary death among elderly living alone will become more serious social issues.

In fact, according to the Seoul Welfare Foundation's "2020 Seoul Elderly Status Survey," among 3,106 respondents aged 65 or older, 1,044 (33.6%) lived alone.

The response indicating a high possibility of dying alone at home without anyone to care for them was 29.7%. This is significantly higher compared to previous surveys (18.4% as of 2018).

The satisfaction level with life among elderly living alone was lower than that of elderly not living alone. Scores were calculated for seven categories including health status, economic status, social/leisure/cultural activities, and housing conditions. Elderly living alone scored 18.6 out of 35 points, showing lower satisfaction than elderly not living alone, who scored 24.3 points.

In particular, satisfaction with health status was 2.87 out of 5 points, lower than 3.45 points for elderly not living alone. Elderly living alone also had a higher number of chronic diseases, averaging 3.1 compared to 2.0 for those not living alone. In depression tests, they scored 6.2 points, indicating a higher risk of depression than the 3.3 points recorded by elderly not living alone.

Experts emphasize that the rapid increase of elderly living alone and their quality of life issues in an aging society are important challenges, and stress the need for the development of tailored services and measures accordingly.