87% of adults willing to work after retirement: survey

(123rf)

A survey showed Monday that nearly 90 percent of South Korean adults are willing to work after retirement, mostly due to financial reasons.

An online job-seeking portal Saramin surveyed 4,056 adults across the country from Oct.7 to 10, asking them if they were willing to work after retirement.

Some 87.3 percent of the respondents said they would, with 95.8 percent of those in their 50s saying so. They were followed by 81.9 percent of those in their 40s, 74.4. percent of those in their 30s and 65.8 percent of those in their 20s.

When asked why they wished to work after retirement -- with multiple answers allowed -- 58.6 percent said it was because their savings and pension program would not be sufficient to support post-retirement life. About 30.6 percent said it was to secure extra funds, 29.3 percent said it was to pass the time and 20.2 percent said it was to support their families.

Part-time employment was the most preferred form of post-retirement work, picked by 47.5 percent of the respondents. But 27.8 percent of respondents said they would like a full-time job.

Some 50.9 percent said they wanted to work for 40 hours, followed by 15.9 percent who picked 30 hours, 9.7 percent wanted to work 25 hours, 8.8 percent picked 20 hours, 8 percent chose 35 hours, and 6.8 percent who said they wished to work for more than 40 hours.

On average, respondents wanted to stop working at age 72.5, over a decade above the legal retirement age of 60.

As such, 84.1 percent of the respondents said the current legal retirement age should be changed. The average answer for the suitable retirement age was 67.7.

There have been discussions about changing the current legal retirement age, with the life expectancy of both genders surpassing 80 as of 2023, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service.

In August, Rep. Park Hong-bae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea proposed a bill that would gradually change the legal retirement age to 65 by 2033.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)