Korean People's Perception of Longevity and its Determinants

This study aims at surveying how Koreans look upon and prepare for the age of longevity("age of 100 years") drawing near at hand, analyzing factors affecting such a perception and behavior. To this end, a telephone survey was launched for 1200 persons sampled to evenly comprise the young, middle-aged, and elderly groups. Our findings indicate that more Koreans looked upon the upcoming "age of 100 years" as a "disaster" rather than a "blessing." The sense of combined uneasiness over the aged life being further elongated while they are unprepared for it, anxiety over maintaining health and so forth came into play. However, the better a person is prepared by way of health management, savings for retirement, preparation for leisure activities and employment for the later life, the more positively he or she looked upon the "age of 100 years". An analysis by group indicates that women rather than men, the elderly rather than the young, the less educated rather than the highly educated, the low-income bracket rather than the high-income bracket looked upon the "age of 100 years" more negatively. Under such circumstances, it is suggested that the nation"s social system tailored to a life expectancy of 80 years should be readjusted, tailored to a "longevity paradigm" and that to this end social systems should be reoriented toward the direction where "healthy aging" and "active aging" are fully supported.