Six out of 10 Koreans in their 40s and 50s worry they would have to support children even in post-retirement age as fewer young people easily find jobs and opt to get married and start family on their own, survey showed Monday.

According to a survey conducted by Korea Insurance Development Institute, 56.6 percent of respondents in their 40s and 50s living in six major cities in 2017 feared spending for children after retirement when they lack regular income. The survey findings showed that they expect to spend an average 72.58 million won for each child on education after retirement and 139.52 million won on marriage.

Supporting children will be the biggest old-age worry for Koreans, the institute said.

The survey showed that respondents expect their minimum monthly living expense after retirement to reach an average 2.65 million won as a couple or 1.58 million won alone. They believed 3.27 million won as a reasonable monthly expense amount as couple or 1.94 million won alone. Respondents said they wished at least 64.3 percent of the income they had earned during career after retirement, but expected regular income to stop at 48.1 percent.

The institute noted that middle-aged Koreans should secure additional income for their lives after retirement to cope with the gap between actual and desired income and not to live on minimum expense.

The survey showed public pension such as National Pension Service makes up the primary security - 71.7 percent of male and 57.4 percent of female respondents. Savings and saving insurances came next (11.5 percent of male and 20.6 percent of female respondents), followed by private insurance policies. The income replacement rate, however, of 3.71 million national pensioners as of 2017 was 20.8 percent, indicating that those with higher income are dependent more on private pensions.

By Kim Gang-rae and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]