"Honey, They Told Me Not to Come to Work"... After Retiring at an Average Age of 49, Middle-Aged Workers Face Even the Risk of Dying Alone

[Financial News]  A survey found that middle-aged Koreans leave their main lifelong jobs at an average age of around 49, more than 10 years earlier than the legal retirement age of 60. As more people move into temporary, daily, or manual jobs afterward, the risks of income loss and social isolation are also rising.
According to a report released on the 27th by KIHASA, titled "A Demand-Side Indicator Study for Evaluating Social Security Policy Responses to Demographic Change: Focusing on Middle-Aged and Older Adults," the average age at which people aged 55 to 64 left their main jobs in 2024 was 49.4.
Among the reasons for early retirement, involuntary factors such as restructuring, business closures, and layoffs accounted for the largest share at 29.1%.
Raw data from the supplementary survey on older adults in the economically active population showed that the timing of retirement also varied by age group. Among respondents whose current job differed from the job they held the longest in their lives, those aged 55 to 59 left their main job at an average age of 46.6, while those aged 60 to 64 retired at 51.6.
Even when they found new jobs after leaving their main careers, working conditions often worsened. From the late 50s onward, the share of temporary and daily workers rose among wage earners, and the proportion of manual laborers also increased. The pattern shows many moving into low-paid, unstable jobs unrelated to their previous careers.
In 2024, among wage earners, the share of temporary and daily workers was 18.9% for those aged 50 to 54, 24.8% for those aged 55 to 59, and 37.1% for those aged 60 to 64. As age increased, the share of temporary and daily workers rose, while the share of regular employees fell to 69.2% for ages 50 to 54, 62.9% for ages 55 to 59, and 44.2% for ages 60 to 64.
The share of manual laborers also grew with age. It was about 12% for those aged 50 to 54, about 14% for those aged 55 to 59, about 20% for those aged 60 to 64, and about 26% for those aged 65 to 69.
Job insecurity goes beyond income loss and is also linked to the risk of dying alone. Of the 3,661 people who died alone nationwide in 2023, those in their 50s and 60s accounted for 53.9%. Men made up 84.1% of all cases.
The "relationship network deficit rate" among people aged 50 to 64 who do not regularly interact with relatives or non-relatives was 15.4%. Among single-person households, it rose to 18.2%, close to the 19.5% recorded for single-person households aged 65 and older.
The "multidimensional support deficit rate" for single-person households aged 50 to 64, meaning those with no one to help them with emotional comfort, financial support, or household chores when sick, stood at 20.5%. That was higher than the 18.7% for single-person households aged 65 and older.
The researchers focused on the problem of employment exit and social isolation occurring together among middle-aged adults. They said, "The lack of social networks among middle-aged adults is becoming entrenched in specific vulnerable groups such as low-income households and single-person households," adding that "this suggests there may be a vicious cycle in which labor market exit and social isolation among middle-aged adults reinforce each other."


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter