Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Changes in Old Labor and Poverty

Chapter 3. Old Labor Market Status: Changes and Characteristics

Chapter 4. Labor Trajectory of Old People and Income-Poverty Correlation

Chapter 5. Poor Old-age Labor from Lifecycle Perspective

Chapter 6. Conclusion 

Old-age poverty is one of the most serious issues facing Korea today. But little is known about the path through which the non-poor productive population enter poverty in old age. Equally little known is the path through which old people in poverty participate in the labor market to sustain their livelihood. This report, through a quantitative approach using panel data and qualitative approach using life history interviews, aims to take a close look into the labor trajectory in old age and its relationship with income and poverty. 

Before diving into the analysis, Chapter 2 reviews changes in the old-age labor market and their income poverty using secondary data that has nationwide representation. Employment rate among the 50s stayed at around 54% throughout the 1990s, but fell sharply during the Asian Financial Crisis (-4.2%p), then slowly climbed back up from 2001, reaching 56.1% in 2019. By age, employment rate begins to decline since the 50s then falls more rapidly in the 60s. There is a higher share of temporary/daily wage work and self-employment among older workers than in other productive age groups, with a lower level of labor income. (For the full text of the English summary, please download the “Download 2 English_Abstract”.)