"More 'Just Resting' in Their 20s"... 'No Jobs at Desired Wage Levels'

Aging Population and Unemployed Youth Phenomenon Intertwined
60s Population Up 31% Over 5 Years, 20s Down 4%

Six out of ten people in their 60s were found to be working.

According to the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) of Statistics Korea on the 19th, the number of employed people in their 60s (ages 60?69) last month was 4,467,000, which was more than the 3,833,000 employed people in their 20s (ages 20?29).

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The number of employed people in their 60s has exceeded that of people in their 20s for three consecutive years since 2021, based on May data.

In 2020, the number of employed people in their 60s was 3,598,000, slightly less than the 3,602,000 employed people in their 20s, but in 2021 it rose to 3,911,000, surpassing the 3,712,000 in their 20s.

This phenomenon is due to changes in the population structure, such as aging.

The population of people in their 60s was 5,709,000 in May 2018, less than the 6,382,000 in their 20s, but by 2021 it increased to 6,887,000, exceeding the 6,481,000 in their 20s.

Over five years from 2018, the population of people in their 60s grew by 1,772,000 (31.0%), while the population in their 20s decreased by 227,000 (3.6%).

Recently, with the inclusion of baby boomers into the elderly population, the number of people aged 60 and above is rapidly increasing. This structure inevitably leads to an increase in employment among those in their 60s and a decrease among those in their 20s.

Another factor is the growing number of elderly people who want to work for living expenses and other reasons.

According to microdata from the supplementary survey on the elderly economically active population by Statistics Korea, the percentage of people in their 60s who wished to work in the future increased from 66.3% in May 2018 to 71.8% in May 2022.

The main reason for wanting to work in both 2018 and 2022 was "to help with living expenses."

In fact, the economic participation rate of the elderly continues to rise.

Last month, the economic participation rate of the population aged 60 and over was 48.1%. This is the highest figure for the same month since June 1999, when related statistics began to be produced. With these changes combined, the employment rate of people in their 60s last month was 59.7%, up 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier. This means that six out of ten people in their 60s are working.

On the other hand, the number of young people in their 20s who neither prepared for employment nor sought jobs but took a break actually increased. According to an analysis of microdata and the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) of Statistics Korea on the 18th, when asked about their economic activity status last month, 357,000 people in their 20s answered that they were "taking a break," an increase of 36,000 from the previous year.

Among generations, the 20s were the only age group where the "taking a break" population increased despite an overall population decline.

When asked why they were taking a break, 173,000 of them most frequently answered, "Because there seemed to be no jobs that matched the desired wage level or working conditions."

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