"Want to Work Even at 70"… 41% of Koreans Agree to Retirement Age Extension

Difficulty Securing Retirement Income
"Willingness to Work Longer"

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The proportion of people in South Korea who agree with 'raising the retirement age' was found to be 41%, which is three times the average of major overseas countries. On the other hand, the proportion agreeing with early retirement is the lowest. This is interpreted as an opinion that elderly labor should be further activated.

According to the research report "A Comparative Study of Public Perceptions on Aging and Pensions in 10 Countries" released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) on the 20th, South Korea showed overall significant economic concerns and burdens regarding unusually rapid aging compared to other countries.

In the first half of this year, KIHASA conducted a perception survey on aging with four overseas partner institutions in 10 countries (Korea, United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland, and the United States), targeting 1,500 to 2,000 adult men and women in each country.

Regarding the statement "The increase in the elderly population relative to the working population poses a threat to the economy," 76.1% of Korean respondents agreed. This reflects the most negative perception of the economic impact of aging. The average agreement rate among the 10 countries was 44.8%, about 30 percentage points lower than Korea.

The proportion agreeing with the statement "The retirement age of all workers should be raised" was highest in Korea at 41.2% among the 10 countries. This figure is nearly three times the overall average (14.8%). In the survey related to early retirement, 44.8% of Korean respondents chose "No intention of early retirement," which is more than 1.5 times the 10-country average of 25.0%.

The proportion supporting a reduction in public pension benefits was also generally higher than the average. The research institutions asked about agreement with reducing public pension benefits in two cases: "applying only to current contributors (future retirees)" and "applying to both current contributors and beneficiaries." The average agreement rates among the 10 countries were 21.3% and 15.1%, respectively. In Korea, these were 24.7% and 28.6%, with the proportion agreeing to "cut benefits for beneficiaries as well" unusually higher.

Idami Lee, a senior researcher at KIHASA who conducted the study, analyzed, "Since it is still difficult to guarantee the adequacy of retirement income with public pensions alone, there is a strong willingness to work longer." She added, "To respond to the unusually rapid demographic changes, anxiety about low growth, and the financial instability of the National Pension, elderly labor must be activated."

Regarding perceptions of reducing public pension benefits, she pointed out that concerns about the National Pension's finances are high, and awareness of benefit cuts as one of the improvement measures is also high. She further evaluated, "It is noteworthy that the perception that the older generation should also share the burden is particularly strong." However, she explained, "Since South Korea's elderly poverty rate is among the highest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), benefit cuts should be decided cautiously."