초록 열기/닫기 버튼
The population of Korea rapidly aging. It is expected that the proportion of older people aged 65 and over will exceed 20.8 percent by the year 2026. The population aging will create serious problems for the Korean economy in the future. One is the worsening of public pension finances caused by the increase in pension benefits and the decline in pension premium payers. The other is a possible labor shortage due to the decline in birthrate. In order to sustain economic competitiveness Korean society cannot afford to ignore the working potential of older people. However, the employment rate of workers older than 50 years is low in Korea because of the frequent use of early retirement schemes. The average mandatory retirement age is 57, while the public pension age is 60. Consequently most retired people have to live without any regular income until they receive the old-age pension. The result is that older people face a higher poverty risk rate than the total population. In the wake of the declining younger working-age population, Korean firms cannot but employ more older workers. Adequate policies will therefore be necessary to raise the mandatory retirement age to increase the employment rate of older people. However, increasing the mandatory retirement age provides only a limited solution to the problem of how to improve the employment of older people. The main challenges lie in finding places in the job market for all generations and adjusting working conditions to suit older workers. Even though increasing the employment rate of this age group is one of the strategic goals of Korea, older people remain a threatened group within the job market and many barriers exist. Policy instruments should focus on increasing the employability of older people, the expansion of work opportunities suitable for this age group, the fight against negative stereotypes and age discrimination and stimulating the motivation of people to work in later life. There is no one universal tool available to solve the problem of supporting the employment of older workers; the solution will require the use of a range of different instruments. Even if increasing the retirement age leads to an increased older people employment rate, support for older workers in the job market will be essential in order to avoid an increase in social problems and the social exclusion of an important segment of society.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Older People, Employment, Social Enterprise, Mandatory Retirement, Early Retirement