Productive aging of Korean older people based on time use

Soc Sci Med. 2019 May:229:6-13. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.020. Epub 2018 Apr 16.

Abstract

This study differentiated the diversified aspects of older adulthood in terms of productive activities and examined which attributes of the elderly shaped these dissimilarities of productive aging. This research shed light on the multi-dimensional nature of the productive activities of the Korean elderly, using the 2014 Time Use Survey produced by Statistics Korea. This study selected 3766 older adults aged 65 and older who resided in city areas. The results revealed that the time used for productive activities for older adults were different based on objective factors. These differences were clear enough to be classified into distinctive clusters. When analyzed in terms of the amount of time spent, gender of the elderly turned out to be the most discriminating factor. As for the dimension of labor, gender division of labor still existed during older adulthood in that older men were more active in doing paid work, whereas care of family was assigned as women's responsibility. Furthermore, most of the elderly did not participate in productive activities, and this possibility rose as one's age increased.

Keywords: Cluster; Korean older people; Productive activities; Time use data.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging*
  • Child
  • Child Care / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Efficiency*
  • Employment / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Grandparents / psychology
  • Healthy Aging
  • Humans
  • Learning
  • Male
  • Quality of Life
  • Republic of Korea
  • Sex Factors
  • Social Participation
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Time Factors
  • Urban Population / statistics & numerical data*
  • Volunteers / psychology
  • Volunteers / statistics & numerical data