It is estimated that about 8.6 million people, or people born in the 1960s.In Korea, these generations usually start working in their 20s and work for about 30 years. This generation should take care of their parents and take responsibility for their children as they have learned from their responsibilities and obligations.So it’s not easy.Regardless, more than 10% of them have no problem supporting this life with the assets they have received from their parents leisurely or accumulated so far. However, the majority of the population, about 7-80 percent, are still on a daily allowance, looking for work or working daily. Instead of your health or leisure, you should eventually make money.Currently, the Korean economy does not look very smooth.Therefore, both business and work conditions make quality of life difficult. “The last generation to support parents, the first generation to not be supported by children.” Current cultural programs dealing with the life of those born in the 60s who cannot retire with the burden of “double support” on their shoulders are touching generations. Those born in the 60s felt homogeneous in their lives, and the generation of their children expressed gratitude and sorry for their parents’ generation.
A video titled “The old age of a person born in the 60s who has to continue working for his family even after retiring from a large company” has been uploaded and has recorded 890,000 views so far on the 30th. The video was considered a surge in YouTube popularity, especially among middle-aged people, and seems to have been watched by many people through Kakao Talk.The video focused on the reality that people born in their 60s, who account for the highest percentage of Korea’s total population, are still unable to give up their economic activities through both the boom and bust periods of Korea. The production team explained that they entered the labor market when the Korean economy took off in the mid- to late 1980s, contributed to economic development and worked hard for democratization, and in the 1990s, they also experienced the IMF financial crisis. He introduced that he suffered from double hardships in middle age by taking care of parents and children’s education, but he has just lived silently with the strength of enduring hunger. “Born in the 60s is a generation that has to support the previous generation privately and take care of their old age,” he said. He said, “The responsibility for double support lies with those born in the 60s, but society is not paying attention to that part.”Netizens who watched the video showed various reactions by generation. Those born in their 60s said, “The children are all grown up, but they cannot retire because there are 80 adults in the countryside.” “I am an ordinary head of the family who takes care of an old mother in her 90s and raises a son in her 20s. I don’t know how to do it, so I just live hard. “Life is not easy,” he said. The generation of children said, “Even if I say not to give it to my child like that, I am always sorry to my parents who help my child whenever he or she is having a hard time.” “I should call my parents who work hard not to harm my child.” “It breaks my heart. “I want you to buy it for yourself now,” he said.Statistics show the hard lives of the elderly, including those born in the 60s. As the number of elderly people who have to earn their own living expenses for economic reasons increased, the number of elderly people aged 60 or older who work doubled in 10 years. According to the National Statistics Portal of the National Statistical Office in March, the number of employed people aged 60 or older recorded 5.772 million in February. The number increased by 413,000 from a year ago. This is the largest ever since 1999, when related statistics began to be compiled as of February.
The number of employed people aged 60 or older was only 1,856,000 in February 2003, 20 years ago, but increased to 2,734,000 in February 2013, and rose to 5.7 million in February this year, 2.1 times higher than 10 years ago. As the baby boomers born between 1955 and 1963 entered their 60s, the elderly population itself increased rapidly.It is also characterized by an increase in the number of elderly people who have found jobs to earn living expenses. The employment rate, which shows the number of employed people compared to the actual population, has also increased. In February, the employment rate for those aged 60 or older was 42.8%, the highest as of February since statistics were compiled. The employment rate for those aged 60 or older has increased by 0.8 percentage points in 10 years from February 2003 (32.0 percent) to February 2013 (32.8 percent), but has risen sharply by 10 percentage points to 42.8 percent in the past decade.It is sad that one generation has once played the central role of Korea, but now he is in a position to take responsibility for his children and parents, giving up his life and even his old age, and just remain an icon of sacrifice
EJ SONG
US ASIA JOURNAL
