1 out of 3 elderly households is "Living Alone"...80% of lonely deaths are in their 50s or older.

32% of elderly households 'living alone'...80% of lonely deaths are in their 50s or older.

Elderly Living Alone From the Old Age Threshold to the Shadow of Death

"Older Jobs Expanded to 10% of All Elderly by 2027"

England created a loneliness department six years ago...Japan's Solitude Countermeasures Promotion Act

[Anchor]
One out of three elderly households in Korea is living alone, so the number of elderly households living alone is increasing rapidly.

However, it is pointed out that there is a small possibility of a lonely death outside of the reach of help, so it is necessary to come up with measures.

Reporter Kwon Min-seok's report.

[Reporter]
According to the government's 2023 Survey on Seniors, 32.8% of the elderly live alone, exceeding 30% for the first time.

It jumped 13 percentage points from three years ago, and the number of elderly people living with their children dropped sharply to half.

As they live apart from their spouses and families, more than 7 out of 10 elderly people living alone said they have difficulties in their daily lives.

A life as isolated as an island because the relationship has been cut off brings us closer to death from the threshold of old age.

Last year, more than 3,600 people died alone because no one cared about life or death.

There were 2,918 middle-aged people in their 50s or older, accounting for 80% of all lonely deaths, with more than half of the deaths of men in their 50s and 60s retiring after dedicating their youth.

In addition, poverty among the elderly living alone is fatal in itself, with 41% of the recipients of basic living among lonely deaths.

The proportion of working elderly households reached an all-time high of 39%, but if the poverty problem of the elderly is not solved, the steadily increasing death of loneliness cannot be prevented.

Because of this, the government plans to support economic independence by increasing the number of jobs for senior citizens to 10% of all senior citizens by 2027.

[Jeong Soon-dul / Professor of Social Welfare at Ewha Womans University] There are various programs for the elderly. If you participate in that, you can participate in it and take relationships with others. So I think you should take advantage of that opportunity.]

The UK has already established the Ministry of Loneliness as a government department six years ago, and Japan has rolled up its sleeves to solve the problem by implementing the Solitude and Isolation Measures Act since April this year.

The Korean government also set a goal of reducing 20% of lonely deaths by 2027, requiring continuous attention and social efforts.

I'm Kwon Minseok of YTN.