A study on amended old-age welfare law

Abstract

Owing to rapid industrialization, urbanization and improvement of living standard as well as the development of medical facilities, rhe average life span of the Korean people recorded 68 years in 1985. It has been lengthened conspicuously and it is expected that it will continue to increase to 72.6 years in the twenty-first century. By the end of 1987, the population of those who were 65 or more was 1,845,000 persons or 4.4% of the total population, but it is expected to increase to 2,972,000 persons or 6.2% of the total population by the decade of 2000s, making it the era of the aged. With no suficient measures to accommodate such necessities of the forthcoming period of the aged, it brings numerous discrepancies in meeting impending needs for welfare on various social levels. Negligence in preparing for increasing population of the aged has caused complicated social problems in this country, as we had seen in other industrialized countries.