6 Out of 10 Koreans Support Raising Senior Age Threshold from 65 to 70

Gallup Korea Poll Results

Highest Support in 30s, Lowest in 60s

Higher Proportion of Seniors Say "Take Responsibility for Old Age Themselves"

Approximately 6 out of 10 Koreans support raising the age threshold for senior benefits from 65 to 70.

According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea from April 28 to 30 on 1,002 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, 59% of all respondents said they support raising the age standard for seniors. Opposition stood at 30%, while 12% were undecided or refused to answer.

On the 6th, elderly people are engaged in craft activities at the Gireum Daycare Center in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The daycare center, commonly called "Nochiwon" (Elderly + Kindergarten), is a facility that cares for the elderly who are not yet at the level of needing nursing homes but have difficulty performing daily activities alone due to early dementia or other age-related diseases (long-term care grades 1 to 5). Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The age standard for seniors is defined as 65 and above under the Welfare of the Aged Act. Social security and social insurance systems follow this standard.

Across all age groups, support for raising the age standard for seniors ranged from 55% to 65%. By age group, people in their 30s had the highest rate of support at 65%, while those in their 60s had the lowest at 55%.

By ideological orientation, 68% of progressives, 59% of conservatives, and 61% of moderates supported raising the age standard for seniors. Among those who responded “don’t know” or refused to indicate their ideological orientation, 36% were in favor.

When asked, "Who should primarily be responsible for your livelihood in old age?" 60% of all respondents answered, "I should take care of it myself." "The government and society" accounted for 29%, "children" for 4%, "other" for 3%, and "don’t know/refused" for 3%.

The view that individuals should be responsible for their own old-age livelihood exceeded half in all age groups, with the proportion even higher among those in their 50s (65%) and 60s (71%). Among those who emphasized the role of government and society in old-age livelihood, progressives (40%) were relatively more likely to do so, and the percentage was higher among women (34%) than men (24%).

This survey was conducted through telephone interviews using randomly generated mobile phone numbers. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, with a contact rate of 39.2% and a response rate of 13.3%.

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