PUBLIC JOBS FOR SENIORS TO BE REDUCED

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea is the fastest among major economies in the aging of its population. The problem is that many seniors are not prepared for old age. Public sector jobs have been a helpful source of income, but given the current budget, these jobs will be sharply reduced next year.

[Pkg]

81-year-old Yoo Chun-ja lives alone. She gets a lunch box ready and walks a 15-minute distance to visit another senior person's home to deliver the food. This kind of public sector job where seniors look after other seniors provides a wage of 270-thousand won for 30 hours of work per month. Yoo earns just under 600-thousand won in monthly income including pension.

[Soundbite] Yoo Chun-ja(Public job program participant) : "270,000 won goes a long way. I need to buy rice, side dishes and such. I feel rewarded by making the utmost use of it."

Apart from the money, seniors are grateful for just being able to work at their age. It provides huge comfort and encouragement.

[Soundbite] Cha Go-myeong(Public job program participant) : "Seniors have a sedentary life. But doing this job, I get to move a lot and it improves my health."

These public sector jobs are designed for basic pension recipients who are 65 and older. Those with smaller income have higher chances of getting the job. Data shows the average age of those in the workforce is over 76, and nine out of ten fall under the bottom 50 percent poverty line. This means most seniors are engaged in employment not as a mere hobby and activity but for livelihood reasons.

[Soundbite] Choi Hyun-soo(Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs) : "These jobs are necessary to guarantee minimum income and as effective as pension payment."

These public sector jobs for the elderly are extremely popular. Already some 100-thousand people are currently on the waiting list.

[Soundbite] Joo Young-cha(Waiting list candidate) : "I filed an application at a welfare center and it said they will get back in 3 or 4 months, but there’s no news."

There were some 610-thousand such jobs this year. The government plans to slash that figure by 10%, meaning 61-thousand jobs will be lost.