고령층 취업자, 통계 작성 이후 처음 1000만명 돌파
Korea's Workers Aged 55 to 79 Top 10 Million for the First Time
Part of the August 6, 2026 daily edition
국가데이터처의 고령층 부가조사에 따르면, 55~79세 취업자는 1012만5000명으로 2005년 통계 작성 이후 처음으로 1000만명을 넘어섰습니다. 이 연령대 인구가 1701만7000명으로 57만명 늘어난 데 반해, 고용률은 59.5%로 1년 전 수준에 머물렀습니다. 연령대별로는 55~64세가 71.5%, 65~79세가 47.8%로 모두 소폭 올랐습니다. 가장 오래 근무한 일자리에서 정년을 채운 사람은 13.2%에 그쳤으며, 나머지는 사업 부진이나 건강 악화 등을 이유로 그만둔 것으로 나타났습니다. 연금을 받은 고령층의 월평균 수령액은 남성이 113만원, 여성이 61만원으로 두 배 가까운 격차를 보였습니다. 계속 일하기를 원한다는 응답은 69.2%였고, 이들은 평균 73.6세까지 일하기를 희망했습니다.
Translation
According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics' supplementary survey of the older population, the number of employed people aged 55 to 79 stood at 10,125,000, topping 10 million for the first time since the statistics began in 2005. While the population in this age group rose by 570,000 to 17,017,000, the employment rate stayed at 59.5%, the same level as a year earlier. By age band, the rate rose slightly in both groups, to 71.5% for those aged 55 to 64 and 47.8% for those aged 65 to 79. Only 13.2% worked until the retirement age at the job they had held longest; the rest were found to have left for reasons such as a business slump or declining health. Among older people receiving a pension, the average monthly payment was 1.13 million won for men and 610,000 won for women, a gap of close to two times. Some 69.2% said they want to keep working, and they hoped to go on working until an average age of 73.6.
Vocabulary
- 고령층명사 (noun)the older population, seniors
- 취업자명사 (noun)employed person, worker in employment
- 고용률명사 (noun)employment rate
- 정년명사 (noun)retirement age (set by an employer)
- 부진명사 (noun)slump, poor performance
- 수령액명사 (noun)amount received (e.g. of a pension)
- 격차명사 (noun)gap, disparity
- 그치다동사 (verb)to stop at, to amount to no more than
Grammar points
N에 따르면according to N
Attaches to a source of information — a survey, a report, an announcement, a person — and marks everything that follows as reported rather than asserted by the writer. It is the standard opening of a Korean news sentence, and the clause it introduces usually closes with a reporting form such as -다고 합니다 or -(으)ㄴ 것으로 나타났습니다.
Example: 조사 결과에 따르면 응답자의 절반이 이직을 고민하고 있었습니다.
According to the survey results, half of the respondents were considering changing jobs.
-(으)ㄴ/는 데 반해whereas, while by contrast
A formal written connective that sets two facts against each other: the first clause states one situation, the second states something that runs counter to it. Use -는 데 반해 for an ongoing action (다니는 데 반해), -(으)ㄴ 데 반해 for a completed one or a state (늘어난 데 반해, in the body, is 늘어나다 + -(으)ㄴ). Unlike -지만 it does not soften or concede; it simply lines the two up for comparison.
Example: 형은 회사에 다니는 데 반해 동생은 아직 학생입니다.
My older brother works at a company, whereas my younger brother is still a student.
-(으)ㄴ/는 것으로 나타나다was found to, turned out to
The standard way Korean reports the finding of a survey, an investigation or a study. The clause before 것 is turned into a noun phrase and 나타나다 ('to appear, to emerge') presents it as data that surfaced, not as the writer's own claim. Use -(으)ㄴ for a completed action (그만둔 것으로), -는 for a present state or habit (사는 것으로).
Example: 정부 조사에서 청년 절반이 부모와 함께 사는 것으로 나타났습니다.
A government survey found that half of young people live with their parents.
-(으)며and (formal linking)
The written-register equivalent of -고, used to join two clauses of equal weight in news reports and official documents. It links parallel facts about the same topic; after a consonant it appears as -으며 (그쳤으며), after a vowel as -며 (열며). In speech it sounds stiff, which is exactly why newspapers prefer it.
Example: 박물관은 아홉 시에 문을 열며 여섯 시에 닫습니다.
The museum opens at nine and closes at six.
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