서강대학교

초록/요약

In 2017, Korea became an ‘aged society’ with the proportion of people aged 65 or older exceeding 14 percent, while the ratio of working-age population declined for the first time. This study uses data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLOSA) to examine the effects of pension on the labor supply of elderly people and discusses ways of preparing for this aging problem. The study uses the Heckman sample selection model for analyzing both the extensive and intensive margins of elderly labor. Our results show that the effects of pension in Korea are very different from that in other countries. It can be inferred that these differences are a consequence of the social security system not being appropriate for Korea’s public pension, as its period of implementation is too short. Hence, encouraging elderly people to work could be a way of solving the problem of the relatively high rate of poverty amongst the elderly population in a society that is likely to age even more. This is considered an optimal solution amid an increasing life expectancy; a poor social security system; and a decrease in private income transfers from children.