How to create decent jobs for the elderly

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How to create decent jobs for the elderly

Published: 13 Oct. 2024, 19:53

Kim Won-bae
The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The 2023 Census on Establishments released by Statistics Korea last month mirrors the progress of South Korea’s aging. Business establishments run by owners aged 60 and older increased 4.4 percent, or 63,546 from a year earlier, the highest on-year gain across the age group. Those under ownership of 20s merely added 70. Although business details weren’t disclosed, the data publisher explained trade increased in clothing repair, laundry and transportation led by those in their 60s and older. The nature of trade suggests that retirees started businesses to make a living. Among the self-employed population as of August, the share of 60s and older made up 36.8 percent, bigger than the 27.4 percent of the 50s.

The elderly also constitute a weighty share among the paid hires. The employment rate of those aged 65 and older was 37.3 percent last year, the highest in the OECD scale along with the elderly poverty rate. The ranks suggest many have to work because they are not properly insured for old age. The elderly employment rate is sustained by government-paying jobs and social projects. For this year, 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) was appropriated to back over 1 million jobs. The number will increase to 1.1 million, according to next year’s budgetary outline.

The bulk, or more than 60 percent, are public jobs, mostly going to those aged 65 or older living off a basic allowance. The job involves school zone safety keeping or picking up trash. Some could question if a position paying 290,000 won for 30 hours per month constitutes a real job. Under the government category, the tasks fall into “social activities.” But because the work pays for more than 1 hour per week, the hire is counted in the employment data.

When the Moon Jae-in government beefed up irregular work for the elderly, the then-opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticized it for mass-producing “bad” jobs. The Yoon Suk Yeol government in its first year cut the budget for public jobs. But the scale has now only increased. Reducing or doing away with low-skilled senior jobs when so many elderly live in impoverishment without a pension income is heedless. The substitution effect for the poor elderly could not be overlooked.

The government is designing more secure jobs for the elderly through social services or senior internship programs in the private sector. Social services are hired in caregiving facilities, administrative locations or safety maintenance assignments for 60 hours per month and pay 761,000 won each.

To promote senior internships, the government will subsidize some of the labor costs for companies employing those aged 60 or older or provide support for long-term employment. In a co-sponsored symposium on senior jobs last month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged introduced the case of catering service provider CJ Freshway.

Of 6,546 employees in the food service division of the company, 1,627 or 24.9 percent are aged 60 or older. Of them, 791 hired on a senior internship program last year are still on the payroll. Despite the 40-hour five-day workweek rule, work hours are flexible. Kitchen work can be laborious. The company’s CEO Choi Sang-wook said the work cannot be easy for the elderly, but many are satisfied for getting their pay on time. He is sorry that many are not aware such jobs are available. Government offices and district administrations must be more aggressive in publicizing their work programs to senior residents.

The problems of the self-employed and senior jobs are interconnected. The government earlier this month pledged to subsidize the ailing self-employment segment with 11 trillion won, three months after it announced support packages for microenterprises and the self-employed. Given the struggles of the self-employed, the sector requires financial support to survive the downturn. But in the long-term, the government policy should aim to streamline the overcrowded self-employed sector. Jobseekers also should not choose to start a business because they cannot find jobs. But providing decent job options for self-employed retirees or the elderly cannot be easy. Jobs should match an individual’s health and other conditions.

Instead of relying on fiscal spending, the government should encourage job generation from the private sector and companies. Park Kyung-ha, senior researcher of Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged, recommends public-private collaborated ventures or an employment model leveraging the experience and skills of highly-educated baby boomers. Only when supply meets social needs, senior jobs can offer more than pocket money and allow people to continue working regardless of their age.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.