300,000 Jobs to Be Created for Elderly




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300,000 Jobs to Be Created for Elderly

Yonhap via The Korea Times

October 1, 2003

In preparation for an aging society, the government plans to create 300,000 jobs for senior citizens by 2007.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that it will operate a resource center for the elderly from next year for that purpose.

The center, which will focus on creating jobs for people above 65, will employ seniors in such sectors as environmental preservation, traffic and parking regulation and maintenance.

``Some 200 old people have been trained for a field guide program to tell young students after school about forests and nature,ЎЇЎЇ a ministry official said, explaining the kind of work they would do.

The ministry will increase the budget for the welfare of the elderly from 0.37 percent, or about 400 billion won ($350 million) annually, to 1 percent, and expand the number of facilities for seniors, such as Alzheimer's treatment centers, from 338 to 700 within four years.

Also, a presidential task force on the aging society is to be set up.

South Korea is getting old rapidly. The number of elderly constituted 8 percent of the population, or 3.8 million, in 2002 and is expected to increase to 14 percent by 2019.

Meanwhile, there will be a ceremony on Thursday, set aside as a day for senior citizens, at Olympic Park in Seoul, where President Roh Moo-hyun will deliver walking sticks in honor of the longevity of 441 people who lived to be older than 100 this year, and convey state merits to some senior citizens for their community services.