Shocking Statistics: "Poverty You Can Only Escape by Dying"—The Grim Reality of South Korea's Elderly

Last year, 1 out of every 3 people who left the basic livelihood security program did so because of "death."

This number was higher than the combined total of those who left the program due to increased income, new employment, or starting a business.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Nam In-soon, a total of 240,737 people had their basic livelihood security benefits terminated last year.

Among them, termination due to death accounted for the largest share at 78,014 people, or 32.4% of the total.

On the other hand, the number of people who left the program due to increased income stood at 54,830, while 12,146 people left through new employment or starting a business.

Combining these two categories resulted in 66,976 people, which is about 11,000 fewer than those whose benefits were terminated due to death.

Last year marked the first time in the past five years that benefit terminations due to death surpassed the combined total of income increases and new employment or business startups.

The situation was the exact opposite in 2021.

At that time, the number of people who left the program due to increased income and employment or startups was 84,381, which was about 28,000 more than the 55,531 people whose benefits ended due to death.

However, over the following four years, terminations due to death increased by 40.5%, while terminations through increased income and employment or startups decreased by 20.6%.

In particular, the number of people who escaped the recipient status through employment or startups dropped to 12,146 last year, less than half of what it was four years prior.

A similar trend is continuing this year.

As of June, the number of people whose benefits ended due to death was 47,297, while terminations resulting from increased income, employment, and startups totaled 40,043.

This shift is analyzed to be intertwined with the aging demographic of basic livelihood security recipients.

The proportion of recipients aged 65 and older among general beneficiaries rose from 37.6% in 2021 to 44.4% last year, and the number of recipients aged 65 and older surged by 42.2% from approximately 850,000 to about 1.21 million over the same period.

(Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Kim Kihyun | Graphics by Yang Hyemin | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.