More seniors working in South Korea, stats show

SEOUL, July 24 (UPI) -- The number of workers age 65 and older has been increasing in South Korea, according to government statistics released Tuesday.

Thirty-eight percent of elderly men and women in the 65-79 age group were employed as of May, a 1 percent increase from the same month last year. Of those employed, 36 percent work in low-skilled occupations, according to a report on senior economic activities by Statistics Korea.

Members of the South Korea population age 55 to 79 is more than 13,441,000 this year, a 4 percent increase from 2017.

Among the senior workers, 67 percent are men and 44 percent are women.

Two-thirds of workers in the 55-64 age group said they retired at an average age of 49. Women retire at 47 and men work until 51, on average.

The average working years were 15 years and 5 months. Half of the retired women said they worked less than 10 years, while more than half of men said they worked more than 20 years.

Thirty-two percent of them had to quit their jobs because of business closure or downturn in business.