'Sandwiched generation' working longer, borrowing more as family and societal support fail

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Park, a 65-year-old retiree from a conglomerate, now puts his hands on the steering wheel to make a living — as a taxi driver. He still has to care for his elderly mother and does not want to become a burden on his children.

“I want to earn as much as I possibly can while I am healthy,” Park said on Thursday — a day before Korea's May 8 Parents' Day. “Tomorrow is Parents’ Day, but I don’t even know if I’ll get to see my son because he’s busy working too.”

Park’s story — retired but not really, taking care of his parents but his kids don't take care of him — is not unique in Korea.

Korean adults not only leave their workplaces later than their peers in other advanced nations but they also work well past the retirement age, even for low compensation, according to a 2025 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report on pensions.

Korea’s “effective age of labor market exit” stood at 67.4 for men and 69.6 for women as of 2024 — 2.7 years and six years later, respectively, than the OECD average.

Korean women recorded the highest age of labor market exit among OECD member nations, while Korean men ranked sixth out of the 38 member states, behind only Chile, Iceland, Mexico, Israel and Colombia.

The average effective age of labor market exit is defined as the average age for workers aged 40 and over leaving the work force, according to the OECD. In practical terms, it means the age at which people actually stop working.

That reality is reflected in employment figures. Around 57 percent of Koreans aged 65 to 69 are employed, tying Japan for the highest rate in the OECD and more than double the organization’s average of 26 percent.

In Korea, they are often referred to as the sandwiched generation, because they are expected to care for their parents while being unlikely to depend on their children in return. This forces them to stay in the labor market as long as they can.

But remaining in the work force doesn't always mean a stable income. Jobs available to older workers are often temporary, low-paying or physically demanding. Increasingly, many seniors are turning to debt to stay afloat.

Outstanding credit card loan balances among eight credit card companies showed that borrowers in their 50s and 60s accounted for more than 60 percent of the total, according to February data provided by the Financial Supervisory Service to Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the conservative People Power Party.

Specifically, borrowers in their 50s accounted for 34.6 percent, while those 60 and older accounted for another 27 percent. About five years ago, in 2021, the 40-something-year-old group was the most significant demographic, taking up 33.7 percent of the total.

People in their 50s and 60s represented nearly 60 percent of all delinquent credit card loan balances, accounting for 32 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively.

“My salary is insufficient to cover housing costs, living expenses for my four-member family and nursing home fees for my parents,” said a woman in her 60s who recently took out a card loan. “What worries me even more is what lies ahead as both my husband and I continue getting older,” she said.

The average disposable income of older people relative to that of the total population is one of the lowest in Korea, at 68 percent, compared to an OECD average of 87 percent, the international organization said in the pensions report. This means the average older Korean relies on just two-thirds of the income available to the average person nationwide.

The relative poverty rate among Koreans age 66 and older stood at 40 percent, the highest in the OECD.

The sandwiched generation’s hardship carries an extra sense of bitter irony because they fueled the nation’s rapid economic rise through decades of sacrifice and hard work, and are now getting repaid with economic burdens.

But the values that shaped much of their lives — particularly the expectation of filial support — have steadily eroded in a rapidly-changing society. Respect for the older generation, once deeply rooted in Korean culture, has increasingly been replaced in some parts of society by open hostility and prejudice toward them.

The consequences have been devastating. Korea has for years recorded the highest suicide rate among its older population in the OECD.

The nation saw  37.9 deaths per 100,000 people aged 65 and older in 2024. Yet the figure saw a slight on-year decline, slipping from 40.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2023.

The OECD attributed the grim social phenomenon to an underdeveloped pension system and persistent gender inequality in the labor market.

Many older Koreans belong to generations that could not contribute enough to the National Pension Service, leaving them with inadequate pension income. Korean women often receive even smaller payouts because of career interruptions due to marriage and parenting as well as lower wages.

Poverty among older Koreans might be challenging to solve through institutional means due to the rapidly aging population and its growing strain on public finances, experts say.

“Jobs are the single most important factor in addressing poverty among older people,” said Chung Soon-dool, a professor of social welfare at Ewha Womans University. “Public jobs funded by tax revenue have limits. The private sector also needs to create an environment where older adults are not forced out simply because of their age and can continue working if they choose to.”

“For middle-aged and older adults who are still able to work, the government should expand retraining and career transition programs tailored to changes such as AI education,” said Chon Yong-ho, a social welfare professor at the Incheon National University. “For those unable to adapt to those changes, society should provide public-sector jobs focused on social participation as part of a broader two-track approach.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY NAM SOO-HYOUN [[email protected]]