The Bare Face of a Super-Aged Society: Poverty
In 2025, South Korea has officially entered a Super-Aged Society (elderly population over 20%). However, this title is not an honor but a signal of a disaster.
The most painful indicator hidden behind the flashy skyscrapers is the Elderly Poverty Rate. Korea’s elderly poverty rate is approaching 40%, more than double the OECD average (about 15%). This means that 4 out of 10 elderly people are earning an income below the minimum cost of living. This is a shameful report card for a country that ranks in the global top 10 economically.
”I Work to Buy Rice”: The Reality of Cardboard Collecting
“If I don’t pick this up, I can’t eat today.”
Mr. Kim (78), whom we met in a back alley of Seoul, was pulling a handcart piled high with cardboard boxes in sub-zero weather. The money he earns from wandering the streets all day is merely a few thousand won. With this money, he has to solve meals, heating bills, and hospital fees.
Like Mr. Kim, many elderly people are being driven to the precarious labor front for survival, not for leisure. They are exposed to the dangers of traffic accidents and harsh weather while doing low-wage, simple labor such as collecting waste paper, cleaning, and security guarding.
The Blind Spots of the Basic Pension
The Basic Pension, which provides about 330,000 won (as of 2024 standards) per month, is a lifeline for the elderly, but it is absurdly insufficient to escape poverty.
Moreover, there are many elderly people in welfare blind spots who do not receive even this benefit due to unrealistic selection criteria (e.g., deemed income from property, income of supporting family members). “Because I have a small house, because my children who lost contact have income…” For various reasons, they are excluded from government support and left unattended in poverty.
Lonely Death: Dying Alone
Poverty leads to isolation, and isolation leads to ‘Lonely Death’ (Godoksa).
The news of elderly people passing away alone in cold flophouses or semi-basement rooms and being discovered only days later has become common. The disconnection of family ties and the indifference of the local community are isolating the elderly. The fear of “dying without anyone knowing” is pressing down on the poverty-stricken elderly more heavily than hunger.
The Medical Cost Nightmare: “The Poor Don’t Have the Right to Be Sick”
For the elderly, health is money. As chronic diseases increase with age, medical expenses snowball.
The elderly in poverty endure pain with painkillers because they cannot afford hospital bills. Even the ‘Catastrophic Medical Expenses Support System’ has high barriers, so there are many cases where they give up treatment. The tragic reality that “if you have no money, you don’t even have the right to be sick” is happening in 2025 Korea.
Immaturity of the Public Pension System
The fundamental cause of elderly poverty is the immaturity of the public pension system.
Compared to developed countries, the history of the National Pension is short, so there are many elderly people who have not subscribed or have short subscription periods, resulting in very low receipt amounts. The average receipt amount is only about 600,000 won, which is far short of the minimum cost of living for a single person (about 1.24 million won). The result of the failure to prepare for old age during the turbulent times of industrialization has returned as a boomerang of poverty.
Sluggish Pension Reform and Generational Conflict
While pension reform is urgent to solve this, discussions are spinning in circles due to generational conflict.
The youth generation resists, asking “Why must we support the elderly?” and the elderly generation appeals, “We dedicated our lives to the country, but this is the treatment we get?” Amidst politicians conscious of votes delaying reform, the poverty of the current elderly generation is being neglected.
Private Transfer of Income is Cutting Off
In the past, the tradition of children supporting their parents acted as a safety net, but now that has virtually disappeared.
Due to their own economic difficulties (high housing costs, child-rearing costs), children can no longer afford to support their parents. The value that “supporting oneself in old age is the norm” is spreading. The disconnection of private income transfers is accelerating elderly poverty.
Housing Poverty: Old People in ‘Gosiwons’ and ‘Jjokbangs’
Housing instability for the poverty-stricken elderly is also serious.
Pushed out by rising housing costs, elderly people are drifting to ‘Jjokbangs’ (tiny slice rooms), Gosiwons, and vinyl greenhouses. These places are vulnerable to fire and hygiene, and lack heating and cooling facilities, directly threatening lives. The supply of public rental housing for the elderly is falling far short of demand.
Conclusion: A Society That Respects the Elderly is a Happy Society
How a society treats its weakest members demonstrates that society’s dignity. The poverty of the elderly who led the compressed growth of Korea is our collective debt.
We need a thicker social safety net. We must expand the Basic Pension, alleviate the medical burden, and supply customized jobs and housing. More fundamentally, we must realize pension reform to guarantee a minimum dignified life. Resolving elderly poverty is not charity for seniors, but a preparation for the future of ‘Us who will all become old eventually.’
