Just how different is an East Asian society from the West when it comes to working longer before retiring? Data released by both the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the labour and employment ministry in South Korea earlier this year paints a striking picture.

According to Korean media, statistics showed South Koreans are working longer than their counterparts in 34 industrialized countries. The Korean Labor Institute said in July the country was the only OECD nation with an average retirement age over 70 between 2007 and 2012; the figure for South Korea, the report said was 71.1. In comparison, the OECD average was 64.3 during the same period.

The numbers imply that “Korean men are burdened with bread-winning even after retirement, with their preparations for old age insufficient in most cases,” the institute told Business Korea in July, noting Korean men work five years longer than counterparts in Spain and Switzerland.

In addition, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said last week the latest figures showed that, in 2014, Korean men were retiring even later, with the average now at 72.9. That’s up 1.8 years from 2013. Korean women, incidentally, are also leading the pack at an average retirement age of almost 71.

The most telling part of the data may be the fact that it is happening despite government regulation. The Chosun Ilbo says Seoul has mandated a legal retirement age of 60, but many choose to continue working. Data indicates the elderly in Korea earn about 60 per cent of the national average, and close to 50 per cent of them live below the poverty line, according to the report.

Another Korean newspaper, the Hankyoreh, said the retirement data demonstrates the dire situation of South Korea’s workers, rather than a cultural expectation to work later in life.

“The reason that South Koreans retire so late is because the country’s inadequate pension and welfare systems mean that they do not have enough income in their old age,” the report said, noting the vast difference between Korea and the OECD members with the earliest retirement age — Belgium, Austria and Slovakia, at 59.

The retirement age only shows one facet of the issue. The Hankyoreh also noted the average South Korean works longer hours for each of those years than OECD counterparts, averaging 2,057 hours per year in 2014. That compares with the OECD average of 1,734 hours; workers in Germany, meanwhile, averaged 1,302 hours on the job each year.

The work pattern is also adding to the issue of low fertility in the country, with female workers having children later. The Chosun Ilbo said statistics from last year show South Korean women had their first child at an average age of 30.7, up dramatically from the average age of about 26 in 1995.

European countries like Spain and the Netherlands are seeing a much slower upward trend in the average age women have their first child, from about 28 in 1995 to 30 today.

The fertility issue isn’t isolated to South Korea; in neighbouring Japan, the average age women have their first-born is 30.4.

On the late retirement front, OECD labour data shows Japan as the country with the highest number of workers between ages 70 and 74 (1.14 million) and age 75-plus (800,000). The country with the next biggest 75-plus working population is Mexico (436,000), and the only country with a similar level of workers aged 70 to 74 is the United States, with more than double the population of Japan.

The World Bank report said these working habits are staving off the effects of an aging population, as productivity remains high even as workers get older. But the report also recommended governments in Asia tackle the issue with policy decisions now — and the data shows just why that urgency is needed.

chchiang@postmedia.com

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