[Insight & Opinion]Proposing to Call People in Their 60s and 70s Middle-Aged

The Term "Elderly" Conjures Images of Decline and Frailty
Titles Should Be Separate from Social Security Standards
Raising Life Energy to Promote a Healthier Society

Titles are important for books and writings. They serve as the first criterion for deciding whether to read them or not. Generally, names and titles are important. The perception of the same thing can vary greatly depending on what it is called. Even the same person can be addressed as professor, writer, or ajusshi, and the image that comes to mind is completely different.

The titles used also vary according to age. Teenagers are usually called adolescents, and people in their twenties are called young adults. The feelings evoked by the terms adolescent and young adult are very different. Adolescents evoke the image of young teens, while young adults bring to mind grown people in their twenties.

The same applies to titles for older people. What image comes to mind when you hear elderly or old age? The literal translation of 노인 (老人) is "old person." It conjures images of aging, decline, and frailty. However, such images do not suit today's 65-year-olds at all.

In 1920, the average life expectancy in Korea was 30 years, and in 1960 it was 55 years. It was not easy to live beyond 65 just 60 years ago. At that time, it was appropriate to call those over 65 elderly. Currently, the average life expectancy exceeds 84 years, and the most common age of death is 90. The number of people over 100 is also increasing. Nevertheless, people over 65 are still called elderly simply because the law defines it that way. This needs to change.

There have been ongoing discussions about raising the age criterion for elderly, including the proposal by the Korea Senior Citizens Association to adjust the elderly standard to 70 years. According to surveys on the elderly, the age that elderly people themselves consider as the threshold is 70.5 years. However, raising the elderly age standard would affect various elderly welfare systems, so despite recognizing the necessity, this stalemate has continued for over 20 years.

Is there no solution? Apart from legal amendments, we should start by changing the titles used in daily life. Let's separate the elderly age standard defined by law for social security purposes from the common titles used in everyday speech. Reflecting the times, I propose calling people in their 60s and 70s middle-aged rather than elderly.

The power and influence of the expectations that names bring are much greater than people think. Experimental results show that the earlier the age defined as the start of old age, the earlier physical strength actually declines. The healthy life expectancy of Koreans is currently 73.1 years. Many people in their seventies are still healthy. Yet, once someone over 65 is called elderly and thinks of themselves as elderly, their life energy decreases. This is because negative expectations operate through the title.

As the Milken Institute in the United States has announced, one of the resources humanity has never used before is the elderly. Healthy and capable elderly people in their seventies and eighties are too valuable a resource to be left unused. People over 65 should not be automatically called elderly. The legal definition of elderly is only for social security purposes.

Now, 65 is not elderly. It is middle age. Changing a single title may seem simple, but it is a crucial key to either lowering or raising the life energy of people in their sixties and seventies. As of the end of 2023, the population over 65 in Korea is 9.56 million. The elderly title is a serious issue that affects whether the life energy of nearly 10 million people is raised or lowered. Let's call people elderly from 80 years old, and those in their 60s and 70s middle-aged.

Kim Hyungon, Director of the National Assembly Future Institute