Korea’s pensions cut elderly poverty. So why are seniors still the poorest in the OECD?

While Korea’s public pensions have expanded, they still leave out many older women and those over 75 who either did not qualify or contributed too little

In Yeongdong, a rapidly aging rural town in central South Korea, Mayor Jeong Yeong-chul (left) serves lunch to seniors on July 1 as part of a volunteer program. (Newsis)

South Korea has sharply expanded its public pension coverage in recent years, helping to cut elderly poverty. Despite the progress, the country's senior poverty rate still ranks worst among OECD nations.

A recent report from the National Pension Research Institute showed that between 2006 and 2022, the share of older adults with no pension income dropped from nearly 69 percent to just 8.7 percent. That shift marks a clear move away from family-based support toward state-funded income in old age.

Public pensions are now a central part of Korea’s social safety net. In 2022, they helped to lower the senior poverty rate by 14.9 percentage points, up from just 2.4 percentage points in 2006. But the need remains urgent. OECD data from 2023 put Korea’s senior poverty rate at 40.4 percent. This is almost triple the OECD average of 14.2 percent.

Korea’s system is built on two parts: the National Pension Scheme, which is tied to work and contributions, and the Basic Pension, a cash benefit for low-income seniors. In 2022, the Basic Pension had a greater effect on reducing poverty, accounting for an 8.3 percentage point drop, compared to 7 percentage points from the National Pension. However, the National Pension played a larger role in narrowing income gaps overall.

Still, large gaps remain for certain groups. In 2022, only 32.4 percent of senior women received National Pension benefits, compared to 56.9 percent of men. This reflects decades of unequal access to formal jobs. Poverty among senior women reached 48.7 percent, far higher than the 35.9 percent among men.

Seniors aged 75 and older face the steepest challenge. Many were too old to benefit fully from the pension system when it launched in 1988. Their poverty rate hit 61.3 percent in 2022, nearly double that of seniors aged 65 to 74.

The researchers urged stronger protections for these vulnerable groups. They called for expanded pension credits for women with caregiving gaps and targeted increases in Basic Pension payments for those over 75.