Poverty in South Korea
Poverty in South Korea has been in drastic decline since the mid-20th century, particularly the absolute poverty rate. Relative poverty was also in decline until the late 1990s, rose in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis, and has been in decline since the 2010s. While only about 2% of South Koreans are affected by absolute poverty today, about 14-15% of these 2% are elderly and are affected by relative poverty. Elderly relative poverty has been in consistent decline since 2011, according to the OECD.
Trends
Choo, Park and Yoon noted that both absolute and relative poverty have declined in Korea from 1965 to 1990. They concluded that "rapid economic growth during in Korea has alleviated poverty to a great extent". Philips et al. praised South Korea, noting that "South Korea has experienced one of the most dramatic declines in absolute poverty that the world has seen". They added that while over half of the Korean population was affected by absolute poverty in mid-1950s, absolute poverty had declined to only about 3.4 percent of the population by the mid-1990s. As of 2001, absolute poverty was below 2%. However, more recent data suggests that relative poverty has been on the rise, growing from about 8% in the early 1990s to 15% as of 2012.According to official estimates, about 15% of South Koreans live below the poverty line. Poverty in South Korea is defined as relative poverty. Relative poverty is not the same as absolute poverty: relative poverty measures the share of the population living on less than half of the median income. About half of all citizens over the age of 65 are living in poverty, one of the highest rates among OECD countries.
On November 15, 2021, according to reports, South Korea ranks fourth in the world in terms of relative poverty among major economies.
Poverty among Korean elderly
In the rapidly aging demographics in South Korea, many elderly require healthcare. Studies taken across many demographics concluded that South Korean elderly with low income lack proper social protection from the government and are the most disadvantaged. In recent years “the proportion of aged 65 and older among people with disabilities has quickly increased, from 30.3% to 43.3% in 2014”. That makes South Korea the leader in this aspect as 3 times the growth as compared to the international average. This is consistent with South Korea having one of the highest life expectancies, which has been growing in recent years.26 percent of Korean elderly lived in poverty in 2008. Among OECD countries, the poverty risk is higher for South Korea's elderly. While the number of elders living in poverty increases every year for many countries, South Korea remains with the highest poverty rate of people aged over 65 among the OECD countries. Moreover, the poverty risk is particularly high for the South Korean elderly who are less educated, living alone, living in a rural area, or are not in good health. Many low-income elderly individuals are currently living with their children, which are often providing them with financial aid, and many also depend on welfare transfers. Overall, the poverty rate for the elderly has been consistently declining since 2011, according to OECD data.