J. Biosoc. Sci.

, (2010) 42, 99–111,  Cambridge University Press, 2009

doi:10.1017/S0021932009990204 First published online 25 Aug 2009

GENDER DIFFERENCES AS FACTORS IN

SUCCESSFUL AGEING: A FOCUS ON
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

SANG-MI PARK*, SOONG-NANG JANG†  DONG-HYUN KIM‡

*Institute of Ageing, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea,

†Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of
Public Health, Boston, USA and ‡Department of Social and Preventive Medicine,
College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea

Summary. Over the past century, the population of Korea has aged rapidly
as a result of decreasing fertility and mortality. Furthermore, the percentage
of the population aged 65 and older is expected to double from 7% to 14%
within 18 years, a much shorter doubling period than in most other
developed countries. As Korean society ages, interest in healthy and
successful ageing has increased. However, although previous studies have
examined various determinants of successful ageing, such as socioeconomic
status, gender differences have been neglected. This study investigated gender
differences as factors in successful ageing among elderly men and women.
Successful ageing has been defined as having high levels of physical and social
functioning. Physical functioning includes having no difficulties with activities
of daily living (ADL) or instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Social
functioning is defined as participation in at least one of the following social
activities: paid work, religious gatherings or volunteer service. Data for this
study were obtained from a representative sample of 761 community-living
individuals aged 65–84 years (340 males, 421 females); the respondents were
interviewed face-to-face as part of the third wave of the Hallym Ageing Study
(2007). Socioeconomic status appears to have a greater gender-specific effect
on physical functioning than on social functioning. Especially for elderly
men, a higher monthly individual income was significantly related to a higher
level of physical functioning. Among elderly women, a higher level of
education was associated with a higher level of physical functioning. In a
major metropolis, elderly men had low social functioning and elderly women
had low physical functioning. As Korea’s population ages, successful ageing
has received much attention. This study shows that policies promoting
successful ageing must consider gender differences and associated socioeco-
nomic factors.

99

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 100 Sang-Mi Park et al.
Introduction

Over the past century, decreasing fertility and mortality have led to the rapid ageing
of the population in Korea. In recent decades, a particularly rapid increase has
occurred in the percentage of the population aged >65 years, rising from 2.9% in 1960
to 9.1% in 2008. Furthermore, the period in which the percentage of the population
aged 65 and older will double from 7% to 14% is expected to be only 18 years. This
is a much shorter doubling period than in most other developed countries, including
France (115 years), the US (73 years), Italy (61 years) and Japan (24 years) (Korea
National Statistical Office, 2007a).
In Korea, the average life span is 79.1 years, which is longer than that in most
developed countries (Korea National Statistical Office, 2007b) and differs by gender,
with a mean of 75.6 years for men and 82.4 years for women. The longer female
lifespan means that elderly married women will probably spend their final years living
without their husbands and will probably confront various unique health and
economic problems. Moreover, in Korea, elderly women tend to have a greater range
of difficulties related to physical function than do elderly men (Chung, 2007). This is
reflected in the average rate of independence with regard to activities of daily living,
which is higher in elderly men (89.2%) than in elderly women (82.0%). Similarly, the
average independence rate of instrumental activities of daily living in elderly men is
83.7%, whereas for elderly women it is much lower at 65.1% (Korea Institute for
Health and Social Affairs, 2006).
As Korean society ages, interest in healthy and successful ageing has increased.
Previous studies have demonstrated that socioeconomic status affects successful
ageing (Rothenberg et al., 1991; Fried & Guralnik, 1997; Stuck et al., 1999; Jang
et al., 2009a). For instance, elderly people with higher individual incomes and higher
educational levels tend to age more successfully than do those with lower individual
incomes and lower educational levels (Strawbridge et al., 1996; Depp & Jeste, 2006).
Moreover, Jang et al. (2009a) found that individual income was the most influential
factor in social functioning, whereas educational level had the greatest effect on
physical and mental functioning. However, although these results indicate some
determinants of successful ageing, they do not consider the differences between elderly
men and elderly women.
Elderly women tend to be less active in social participation, and more elderly men
than women maintain productive paid work and engage in unpaid work after retiring
(Herzog & Morgan, 1992; Chung & Suh, 1997; Chung, 2007).
Understanding the gendered patterns of successful ageing can aid in the
development of effective interventions for improving the life quality for both elderly
men and elderly women. However, gender differences and gender-specific factors
affecting successful ageing remain unclear.
No single accepted definition of ‘successful ageing’ exists, although the criteria of
Rowe and Kahn are commonly used. Rowe & Kahn (1997) defined successful ageing
as ‘. . .the absence of disease and disability, maintaining physical and cognitive
function, and active engagement with social and productive activities’.
Previous studies have focused on physical and social functioning to explain
successful ageing. The most commonly used definition of ‘high physical functioning’

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 Gender differences and successful ageing 101
is the absence of difficulties with activities of daily living (ADL) (Roos & Havens,
1991; Berkman et al., 1993; Strawbridge et al., 1996; Jorm et al., 1998; Lamb &
Myers, 1999; Andrews et al., 2002; Newman et al., 2003; Depp & Jeste, 2006). Less
often, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) may be used (Newman et al.,
2003; Depp & Jeste, 2006).
Social functioning has also been used to define successful ageing. In eight of the
29 studies on successful ageing, social functioning, including paid and unpaid work
(Strawbridge et al., 2002; Garfein & Herzog, 1995; Baltes & Lang, 1997) and
participation in outside social activities (Strawbridge et al., 2002; Garfein & Herzog,
1995), was used to define successful ageing.
In this study, successful ageing is defined as a high level of physical functioning
and a high level of social functioning. The study investigates gender-based differences
as factors in successful ageing to test the hypothesis that socioeconomic status has a
greater effect than do gender-specific issues on the determination of successful ageing.

Methods
Participants
This study examined successful ageing in four age groups. In 2007, a representative
sample of 761 individuals, aged 65–84 years (340 men, 421 women) living in the
community, were interviewed as part of the third wave of the Hallym Ageing Study.
Every two years since 2003, the Hallym Ageing Study has surveyed elderly people
living in two Korean cities: Seoul, a major metropolis, and Chuncheon, a small town.
The third (2007) survey had a follow-up rate of 50.4% (843 elderly people aged 65
years and older) based on the first survey, which had included 1829 people aged 65
years and older. The participants in the present study were 761 people from this third
survey who were between the ages of 65 and 84 (Fig. 1). The study protocol was
approved by the ethics committee of Hallym University.

Measures
The dependent variable in the present study was successful ageing among people aged
65–84 years. Successful ageing was defined as high levels of physical and social
functioning. High-level physical functioning included an absence of difficulties with
ADL or IADL (Won, 2002). High-level social functioning included participation in at
least one of the following social activities: job activities, religious gatherings and
volunteer service.
The independent variables covered three categories: demographic factors, socio-
economic status and health status; the latter included the presence of chronic
conditions. Chronic conditions were defined as having had at least one episode of the
following diseases in the past three years: arthritis, hypertension, stroke, diabetes and
cancer.

Statistical analysis
The relationships between successful ageing and these factors were compared between
elderly men and women. First, multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, OR;

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 102 Sang-Mi Park et al.

Fig. 1. Flow of the Hallym Ageing Study.

95% confidence interval, CI) was performed to estimate the effects of independent
factors on successful ageing. Second, multiple logistic regression analysis was used to
evaluate the relationship between each component of successful ageing and the
socioeconomic and health status of elderly men and women. All of the analyses
demonstrated sufficient goodness of fit (Hosmer–Lemeshow test, p>0.10).

Results
Descriptive analyses
The level of physical functioning was assessed by difficulties in the performance of
ADL and IADL. Overall, 94.1% of elderly men and 87.4% of elderly women
performed ADL, whereas 90.6% of elderly men and only 69.1% of elderly women
were within the independent range for IADL. As the participants aged, their

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 Gender differences and successful ageing 103
Table 1. Prevalence of independence in components of successful ageing, including
physical and social functioning, according to socioeconomic status of 340 men Hallym
Ageing Study participants, 65–84 years old in 2007

Men’s physical functioning: Men’s social functioning:

independenta n (%) participation in social Total successful
activitiesb ageing
ADL IADL n (%) n (%)
Characteristic N=321 N=308 N=195 N=180

Location
Chuncheon 185 (93.9) 184 (94.4) 124 (63.3) 116 (60.1)
Seoul 136 (95.1) 124 (86.0) 71 (50.0) 64 (45.1)
Age (years)
65–74 209 (96.8) 206 (94.9) 138 (64.2) 135 (63.1)
75+ 112 (90.3) 102 (83.6) 57 (46.0) 45 (36.9)
Education
No schooling 28 (93.3) 24 (82.8) 14 (48.3) 12 (42.9)
1–6 years 112 (94.1) 110 (91.7) 73 (60.8) 69 (58.0)
7+ years 181 (94.8) 174 (91.6) 108 (56.8) 99 (52.4)
Monthly individual income ($US)
<200 74 (87.1) 72 (83.7) 35 (40.7) 29 (34.1)
200–590 97 (96.0) 89 (89.9) 60 (59.4) 55 (55.6)
R600 149 (97.4) 146 (95.4) 99 (65.6) 95 (62.9)

ADL=activities of daily living; IADL=instrumental activities of daily living.

a
‘Independent’ means having no difficulties.
b
Social activities=job activities, religious participation and volunteering; ‘participation’ means
participating in at least one activity.

performance of ADL and IADL declined. For elderly women, a higher level of
education was associated with better performance of ADL and IADL. A majority of
the elderly men (57.4%) and women (65.3%) pursued productive activities and social
engagements.
The differences between the two sample locations, Seoul (a city) and Chuncheon
(a small town), were remarkable. Elderly men dwelling in Chuncheon tended to
display high physical and high social functioning, whereas elderly women from the
small town had high physical but low social functioning (see Tables 1 and 2).
Gender differences were found in the proportions of successfully ageing men and
women. Successful ageing in elderly men was significantly related to age, monthly
individual income and self-rated health. Higher monthly individual income
(R600$US, OR=3.7, 95% CI=1.9–7.1) and self-rated health (OR=1.8, 95% CI=1.1–
3.1) were related to the successful ageing of elderly men.
Successful ageing in elderly women was significantly associated with age, monthly
individual income and educational level. Elderly women with higher educational levels
(R7 years, OR=3.0, 95% CI=1.4–6.7) and higher monthly individual income
(R600$US, OR=2.4, 95% CI=1.2–5.1) constituted a higher proportion of those
ageing successfully. Location was significantly related to successful ageing of elderly

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 104 Sang-Mi Park et al.
Table 2. Prevalence of independence in components of successful ageing, including
physical and social functioning, according to socioeconomic status of 421 women
Hallym Ageing Study participants, 65–84 years old in 2007

Women’s physical functioning: Women’s social

independenta n (%) functioning: participation Total successful
in social activitiesb ageing
ADL IADL n (%) n (%)
Characteristic (N=368) (N=291) (N=275) (N=192)

Location
Chuncheon 167 (87.9) 171 (90.0) 117 (61.6) 103 (54.2)
Seoul 201 (87.0) 120 (51.9) 158 (68.7) 89 (38.7)
Age (years)
65–74 230 (92.0) 195 (78.0) 173 (69.2) 138 (55.2)
75+ 138 (80.7) 96 (56.1) 102 (60.0) 54 (31.8)
Education
No schooling 134 (79.8) 89 (53.0) 105 (62.9) 53 (31.7)
1–6 years 154 (92.2) 126 (75.4) 110 (65.9) 84 (50.3)
7+ years 80 (93.0) 76 (88.4) 60 (69.8) 55 (64.0)
Monthly individual income (USD)
<200 159 (81.5) 137 (70.3) 117 (60.0) 83 (42.6)
200–590 155 (90.6) 110 (64.3) 115 (67.6) 72 (42.4)
R600 54 (98.2) 44 (80.0) 43 (78.2) 37 (67.3)

ADL=activities of daily living; IADL=instrumental activities of daily living.

a
‘Independent’ means having no difficulties.
b
Social activities=job activities, religious participation and volunteering; ‘participation’ means
participating in at least one activity.

people of both sexes. Both elderly men and elderly women dwelling in Chuncheon
aged more successfully than did those from Seoul (elderly men living in Chuncheon,
OR=2.3, 95% CI=1.4–3.9; elderly women living in Chuncheon, OR=2.2, 95%
CI=1.4–3.5) (see Table 3).

Factors associated with physical and social functioning in elderly men and elderly
women
The results of this study indicate that location, socioeconomic status and health status
had significant effects on successful ageing. Furthermore, the type of effect these
factors had was dependent on gender. Among the components of successful ageing,
factors associated with physical functioning clearly differed between elderly men and
elderly women. Among elderly men, a higher monthly individual income (R600$US,
OR=5.3, 95% CI=1.9–14.8) and better self-rated health (OR=3.7, 95% CI=1.4–9.9)
were related to high levels of physical functioning. Among elderly women, a high level
of education is associated with high levels of physical functioning. Highly educated
women were more than 10 times as likely to age successfully as were women with low

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Table 3. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for successful ageing by socioeconomic status and health status of 761 Koreans
(340 men, 421 women) aged 65–84 years

Men Women
Successful ageinga Others Successful ageinga Others
n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)
Characteristic (N=180) (N=156) OR (95% CI) (N=192 ) (N=228) OR (95% CI)

Location

Gender differences and successful ageing

Chuncheon 116 (64.4) 77 (49.7) 1 103 (53.6) 87 (38.2) 1
Seoul 64 (35.6) 78 (50.3) 0.4 (0.3–0.07)* 89 (46.4) 141 (61.8) 0.4 (0.3–0.7)*
Age (years)
65–74 135 (75.0) 79 (51.0) 1 138 (71.9) 112 (49.1) 1
75+ 45 (25.0) 76 (49.0) 0.3 (0.2–0.6)* 54 (28.1) 116 (50.9) 0.4 (0.3–0.7)*
Education (years)
No schooling 12 (6.7) 16 (10.3) 1 53 (27.6) 114 (50.0) 1
1–6 69 (38.3) 50 (32.3) 1.5 (0.6–3.8) 84 (43.8) 83 (36.4) 1.9 (1.2–3.1)*
7+ 99 (55.0) 89 (57.4) 0.8 (0.3–2.2) 55 (28.6) 31 (13.6) 2.8 (1.5–5.2)*
Monthly individual income ($US)
<200 29 (16.2) 56 (36.1) 1 83 (43.2) 112 (49.1) 1
200–590 55 (30.7) 44 (28.4) 3.3 (1.6–6.4)* 72 (37.5) 98 (43.0) 1.4 (0.9–2.2)
R600 95 (53.1) 55 (35.5) 3.7 (1.9–7.1)* 37 (19.3) 18 (7.9) 2.4 (1.2–5.1)*
Self-rated health
Fair/poor 92 (51.1) 108 (69.7) 1 132 (68.8) 187 (82.0) 1
Excellent/good 88 (48.9) 47 (30.3) 1.8 (1.1–3.1)* 60 (31.3) 41 (18.0) 1.5 (0.9–2.5)
Chronic conditionsb
Having (R1) 123 (69.9) 112 (73.7) 1 157 (82.6) 204 (91.1) 1
Not having 53 (30.1) 40 (26.1) 0.9 (0.6–1.7) 33 (17.4) 20 (8.9) 1.7 (0.9–3.2)
a
‘Successful ageing’ was defined as high ability levels in ADL and IADL for physical functioning and social participation for social
functioning; that is, having no difficulties in ADL and IADL and participating in job activities, religious gatherings and/or volunteering.
b
‘Chronic conditions’ were defined as having episodes of the following diseases once or more within the past three years: arthritis,

105
hypertension, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
*p<0.05.
 106 Sang-Mi Park et al.
levels of education (OR=10.6, 95% C=4.5–24.9). Good self-rated health status was
also correlated with better physical functioning (OR=3.0, 95% CI=1.5–5.9).
Increased age was related to a decline in physical functioning for elderly men
(aged 75 and over, OR=0.2, 95% CI=0.1–0.5) and elderly women (aged 75 and over,
OR=0.4, 95% CI=0.3–0.7). However, the relationship between socioeconomic and
health status and social functioning showed stronger differences between elderly men
and women.
Higher monthly individual income was associated with a high level of social
functioning in elderly men (R600$US, OR=3.1, 95% CI=1.6–5.8). However, self-rated
health (OR=1.8, 95% CI=1.1–3.1) was significantly related to a high level of social
functioning only among elderly men. Social functioning also declined with increasing
age in elderly men (aged 75 and over, OR=0.5, 95% CI=0.3–0.8) and elderly women
(aged 75 and over, OR=0.6, 95% CI=0.4–0.9).
Residential location was significantly associated with gender differences in successful
ageing. Elderly men living in a major metropolis had a lower level of social functioning
relative to those living in a small town (for Seoul, OR=0.5, 95% CI=0.3–0.7). Similarly,
elderly women dwelling in a major metropolis showed a lower level of physical
functioning than did those from a small town (for Seoul, OR =0.2, 95% CI=0.1–0.3).

Discussion
Socioeconomic status has a greater impact on gender differences in physical
functioning than in social functioning. In particular, a high monthly individual
income showed a significant relationship with high levels of physical and social
functioning among elderly men. On the other hand, among elderly women, a high
educational level was associated with high levels of physical functioning. Among both
elderly men and elderly women, a positive self-rating of health was related to high
levels of physical functioning.
Elderly men reporting high individual incomes spent more time engaging in
physical activities at work or in their daily lives than did those with lower incomes
(Ford et al., 1991; Seeman et al., 1994). Those reporting higher incomes had higher
levels of physical ability. Income is strongly related to employment and is a sensitive
indicator of socioeconomic status for elderly men (Grundy & Holt, 2001). In general,
elderly men engage in more job activities than do elderly women, and as a result,
individual income is a more sensitive indicator of successful ageing than is household
income. On the other hand, educational attainment, which is usually fixed relatively
early in life, is often regarded as the primary indicator of socioeconomic status in
elderly women (Grundy & Holt, 2001).
In this study, a high level of educational attainment was the factor most strongly
associated with a high level of physical functioning among elderly women. Several
possible explanations for this finding can be proposed.
First, elderly women with low educational levels show lower levels of IADL,
especially difficulties in handling finances and shopping. In this study, good physical
functioning was defined as having no difficulties in ADL and IADL. Ten activities
comprise IADL, such as the ability to use a telephone, go shopping, use different
modes of transportation and handle finances.

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 Gender differences and successful ageing 107
Table 4. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for components of successful ageing,
including physical and social functioning, by socioeconomic status and health status
of 340 Korean men and 421 women aged 65–84 years

Good physical functioninga Good social functioningb

Characteristic Men (N=298) Women (N=279) Men (N=195) Women (N=275)

Location
Chuncheon 1 1 1 1
Seoul 0.5 (0.2–1.2) 0.2 (0.1–0.3)* 0.5 (0.3–0.7)* 1.4 (0.9–2.2)
Age (years)
65–74 1 1 1 1
75+ 0.2 (0.1–0.5)* 0.4 (0.3–0.7)* 0.5 (0.3–0.8)* 0.6 (0.4-0.9)*
Education (years)
No schooling 1 1 1 1
1–6 1.8 (0.5–5.8) 4.0 (2.2–7.2)* 1.3 (0.5–3.3) 0.9 (0.6–1.5)
7+ 1.2 (0.4–4.2) 10.6 (4.5–24.9)* 0.9 (0.4–2.2) 0.9 (0.4–1.6)
Monthly individual income ($US)
<200 1 1 1 1
200–590 3.9 (1.5–8.9)* 1.8 (1.0–3.2)* 2.7 (1.4–5.1)* 1.4 (0.9–2.2)
R600 5.3 (1.9–14.8)* 2.3 (0.9–5.6) 3.1 (1.6-5.8)* 2.0 (0.9–4.3)
Self-rated health
Fair/poor 1 1 1 1
Excellent/good 3.7 (1.4–9.9)* 3.0 (1.5–5.9)* 1.8 (1.1–3.1)* 1.2 (0.7–2.1)
Chronic conditionsc
Having (R1) 1 1 1 1
Not having 1.5 (0.6–3.7) 1.3 (0.5–2.9) 1.2 (0.7–2.1) 1.7 (0.8–3.3)
a
‘Good physical functioning’ was defined as having no difficulties in ADL and IADL.
b
‘Good social functioning’ was defined as participating in job activities, religious gatherings
and/or volunteering.
c
‘Chronic conditions’ were defined as having episodes of the following diseases once or more
within the past three years: arthritis, hypertension, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
*p<0.05.

Second, higher educational attainment may be correlated with greater abilities in

ADL. Previous studies have shown that educational level is associated with good
physical performance, defined as not having difficulty in performing thirteen basic
physical activities such as bathing, eating, using the toilet and dressing. Strawbridge
et al. (1996) found that elderly people with twelve or more years of education
reported better levels of basic physical activity than did those with fewer than twelve
years of education.
Third, lower educational levels tend to be related to functional inactivity and
unhealthy behaviours. Previous studies have shown that low educational levels are
associated with less optimal health behaviours, including a decreased level of physical
activity (Kubzansky et al., 1998). In addition, low educational level is more strongly

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 108 Sang-Mi Park et al.
predictive than is income of the onset of functional disability and the progression of
functional limitations (Herd et al., 2007).
The results of the present study demonstrate the association between ‘excellent’ or
‘good’ self-rated health and a high level of physical functioning among elderly men
and elderly women. Previous studies have demonstrated the association between
self-rated health status and ADL and IADL among elderly people (Gama et al.,
2000). The ability to use stairs and to transfer between a chair and bed among ADL
items, and the ability to handle laundry, use transportation and manage finances,
among IADL items, show the highest correlations with self-rated health status.
Functional limitations in ADL show a significant association with poor self-rated
health status (Gama et al., 2000).
This study suggests distinct regional differences in successful ageing. Among our
participants living in a major city, elderly men tended to have low social functioning,
and elderly women low physical functioning. In general, elderly men in a city retire,
becoming less active due to age. In contrast, elderly men from small towns continue
with agricultural activities. This might be a potential determinant of the decline in
social functioning, including job activity, among elderly men living in major
metropolitan areas.
Wilcox et al. (2000) demonstrated that in urban areas, elderly women face
different barriers to physical activities than do elderly men. For instance, the
environmental characteristics of a city, such as heavy traffic, high crime and the lack
of safe pavements, might be determinants of low physical functioning.
The present study has several limitations. First, this study could not avoid
uncertain causality and selection bias due to its cross-sectional design, which focused
on the third panel of the Hallym study. The study could not investigate the various
changes that occurred for the participants from the first to the third survey, including
changes in socioeconomic status, health status, physical functioning and social
functioning. In addition, the sample was confined to two cities, Korea’s capital
(Seoul) and a small town (Chuncheon), and might therefore suffer from an
unavoidable selection bias and resultant limitations on generalizability.
Second, the study defined successful ageing in terms of physical and social
functioning. However, no universally accepted definition of successful ageing exists.
Even so, the definition used here is the one that has most commonly been used.
Third, a debate exists about the relationship between gender and particular risk
factors with regard to successful ageing. In general, throughout their lives, men
participate in more social activities, such as paid or unpaid work, than do women. In
addition, elderly women tend to have lower educational levels than do elderly men.
Given these circumstances, findings regarding higher physical functioning among
elderly men may have been influenced by higher levels of individual income for elderly
men and lower levels of educational attainment for elderly women.
Fourth, the study defined good physical functioning as having no deficit in ADL
and IADL. These criteria are stricter than those used in other studies on successful
ageing. However, the aim of this study was to explore gender differences in successful
ageing as related to socioeconomic status. If we consider gender differences to be
biological characteristics, the stricter standard of physical functioning is appropriate
if distinct differences between elderly men and elderly women are to be identified.

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 Gender differences and successful ageing 109
With the rapid ageing of Korean society, successful ageing has received much
attention. This study shows that policies aimed at promoting successful ageing must
consider gender differences and their associations with socioeconomic factors.
The social security system of Korea is less advanced than is that in other
developed countries (Chang, 2003). For instance, only 2.5% of elderly people receive
a pension or retirement allowance, and only 8.5% of elderly people are supported by
the state, including by supplementary living allowance (Korea Institute for Health and
Social Affairs, 2006). The long-term care insurance system, which supports the
disabled elderly, was not launched until 2008.
The participation of people 65 years and older in the Korean labour force is high
(41.9% for men and 22.5% for women; Korean National Statistics, 2006) compared
with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
countries (16.7% and 7.6%, respectively; Jones, 2005; Jang et al., 2009b). However, the
employment status of elderly workers is primarily in manual and temporary jobs
(Jang et al., 2009b).
It is essential, therefore, to create stable jobs that will give a regular income to
elderly people so that they may age successfully; this is especially the case for elderly
men. Such measures must include attention to elderly women with low educational
attainment. Needless to say, job creation must keep pace with the increase in
governmental income support in old age.

Acknowledgments
This study was supported by a Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2007-411-
J01902), funded by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development
(MOEHRD), Korea.

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