"Where Are Poor Elderly People Supposed to Go?" Senior Population Surges Amid 'Unprepared' Conditions [Senior House]

[20-1]"Even the elderly collecting waste couldn't be helped, so what about housing?" This is not the time

National Assembly indifferent to elderly housing policy

Japanese government, preparing for 'post-late elderly surge,'
has significantly increased middle-class elderly housing since 2011

"They haven't even solved the issue of elderly people collecting waste paper. The elderly poverty rate and suicide rate are also the highest. There are seniors living in monthly 100,000 won 'dalbang' rooms, and they should be the priority. The housing issues of middle-class elderly are still somewhat... "(An official from a National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee member's office)

"There was a seminar on elderly housing held at the National Assembly earlier this year, but honestly, it was done at the request of a research institute. I don't know much about elderly housing." (A member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee)

Even though the number of late-stage elderly aged 75 and over who need care will explode from 2030, the National Assembly remains indifferent to elderly housing policy. The 'Elderly Welfare Act,' which is the basis for elderly welfare housing, remains at the level of the 1970s for this reason. It is only a basic law for low-income groups, and there are no support measures to revitalize elderly welfare housing.

A housing welfare expert from a government agency who requested anonymity said on the 29th, "Currently, the focus of elderly housing welfare policy is limited only to the near-poor class." He added, "The reality is that the majority of the elderly are middle-class seniors, but housing policies for them are not even being discussed," and expressed concern that "if this continues, there will be a serious elderly housing crisis."

Comparing the elderly housing utilization rate relative to the total elderly population with Japan shows how unprepared our country is. According to Statistics Korea, the number of elderly welfare housing units in South Korea is 39 (as of 2022). The capacity is 8,840 people. This corresponds to 0.09% of the total elderly population aged 65 and over (9.94 million). Even this consists entirely of luxury elderly welfare housing that only economically well-off seniors can access.

Japan, which entered a super-aged society earlier than us, has been implementing policies to revitalize elderly housing since 2011. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism collaborated to completely revise the Act on Support for the Housing of the Elderly, which became a turning point in rapidly increasing middle-class elderly housing. They provided subsidies covering 10% of construction costs to private companies and offered long-term fixed-rate loans for up to 35 years. They also introduced support measures such as reductions in property tax and acquisition tax.

This is the interior view of the elderly housing "Minnanoie Hakusan" located in Odawara City, Japan. Photo by Yujin Park

According to statistics announced last year by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, there are 8,294 service-provided elderly housing units for middle-class seniors and 17,327 paid nursing homes. The capacities are 280,000 and 670,000 respectively. This scale can accommodate 2.6% of Japan's elderly population aged 65 and over (36.24 million).

Professor Lee Kyung-rak of the Department of Architectural Engineering at U1 University said, "In Japan, about 3% of the total elderly population can enter elderly housing built by private companies, but in South Korea, it is less than 0.1%. South Korea should also prepare so that 3% of the elderly population, that is, 300,000 out of 10 million seniors, can move into elderly welfare housing with the government's involvement," he emphasized.

[20-1] "They couldn't even solve the problem of elderly collecting waste paper, so what about housing?" This is not the time for that