SPECIAL REPORTS
"Pushed Out at an Average Age of 52.9"… The Cruel Re-employment History of Breadwinners in Their 40s and 50s, and the Truth Revealed by Statistics
According to a survey by Byuluck Market, the re-employment rate among those with retirement experience stood at just 51.8%, and their expected average monthly income upon re-employment was 2.904 million won—14.5% lower than their earnings at their primary jobs (3.395 million won). Middle-aged specialty media outlets and labor market analysts suggest that the rise in the "resting" middle-aged population may not simply reflect early retirement, but rather the outcome of failed re-employment and job mismatches. The fact that the top reason cited for leaving a primary job in supplementary statistics for older adults is business stagnation, suspension of operations, or closure (25.0%) implies that self-employment is becoming another exit route rather than an alternative to failed re-employment.
According to a survey by Byuluck Market, the re-employment rate among those with retirement experience stood at just 51.8%, and their expected average monthly income upon re-employment was 2.904 million won—14.5% lower than their earnings at their primary jobs (3.395 million won). Middle-aged specialty media outlets and labor market analysts suggest that the rise in the "resting" middle-aged population may not simply reflect early retirement, but rather the outcome of failed re-employment and job mismatches. The fact that the top reason cited for leaving a primary job in supplementary statistics for older adults is business stagnation, suspension of operations, or closure (25.0%) implies that self-employment is becoming another exit route rather than an alternative to failed re-employment.
Breadwinners in their 40s and 50s, often referred to as the backbone of the South Korean economy, are being pushed into the structural blind spots of the labor market. Although the statutory retirement age is 60, the actual age at which workers leave their primary career jobs is more than seven years earlier.…
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