60% of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Are 'Homeless'... Pension Enrollment Rate at 75.3%

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Sunhee] Among domestic middle-aged and older adults (aged 40 to 64), 6 out of 10 were found to be without homeownership.

According to the '2020 Administrative Statistics on Middle-aged and Older Adults' released by Statistics Korea on the 21st, as of November 1 last year, the number of middle-aged and older adults owning a home was 8,667,000, accounting for 43.1% of the total population (20,086,000). Although the homeownership rate slightly increased by 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous year, still 6 out of 10 people were without a home.

The homeownership rate was highest among those in their early 60s at 45.5%, and the rate tended to increase with age.

The housing value owned by middle-aged and older adults was most commonly in the range of "over 60 million won to 150 million won," accounting for 30.2% of the total. This was followed by the "over 150 million won to 300 million won" range at 26.9%.

The proportion of middle-aged and older adults owning homes valued over 600 million won was 9.6%, which rose by 3.0 percentage points compared to the previous year. This is interpreted as an effect of the overall rise in housing prices.

The proportion of middle-aged and older adults with outstanding loans from financial institutions was 56.5%, up 0.2 percentage points from 56.3% last year. The median loan balance was 52 million won, an increase of 7.1% from 48.56 million won a year earlier. Notably, those in their early 40s had the highest median loan balance at 63 million won.

As of October last year, the number of registered employed middle-aged and older adults was 13,041,000, accounting for 64.9%.

The proportion of middle-aged and older adults with income last year was 76.4%, up 0.8 percentage points from 75.6% a year earlier. The average income was 36.92 million won, an increase of 3.8% over the same period.

The proportion of middle-aged and older adults enrolled in public and retirement pensions was 75.3%. The enrollment rate for men was 82.1%, 13.5% higher than that of women (68.6%). This is interpreted as indicating that women are relatively less prepared for old age.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.