서강대학교

초록/요약

Due to the increased life expectancy and decreasing birth rates, the pace of aging in Korea is getting faster. As a result, people have become more interested in the well-being of the older and aged people. To successfully enter an aging society, Korea must seek ways to improve the quality of life using various means including doing research on well-being and active and healthy aging. The quality of life is ultimately determined by how much satisfaction an individual experiences in his or her life. The main objective of this research is identifying and investigating the effects of significant variables that influence the subjective well-being of the elderly. Its main focus is on the elderly’s social activities and relationships with others using panel data obtained from the national accreditation statistics - the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging. This study also analyzes the differences that various determinants of well-being including income level, gender, and residency region of the respondents, their relationships with family members and people around them, and their degree of social activities have on subjective well-being of the elderly in Korea. The study estimates and analyzes the subjective well-being panel data model for heterogamous effects by income level, gender, and region of residence. The results show that the respondents in the upper income bracket, men, and those living in small urban residential areas have relatively high life satisfaction. The paper also studies the effect that relationships with other people and the elderly’s social activities have on subjective well-being and finds that this differs depending on income level, gender, and region of residence.