서울 중장년이 꼽은 적정 생활비, 한 달 321만 원
Seoul's Middle-Aged Put an Adequate Monthly Household Budget at 3.21 Million Won
Part of the August 23, 2026 daily edition
국민대 사회학과 계봉오 교수와 서울시50플러스재단은 서울에 사는 40~64세 중장년 2058명을 대상으로 지난달까지 두 달 동안 온라인 실태 조사를 했습니다. 조사 결과 한 가구에 필요한 한 달 생활비는 최소 196만 원, 적정 321만 원, 여유 540만 원으로 나타났습니다. 이 금액은 응답자가 스스로 필요하다고 느끼는 수준을 물은 뒤, 소득이 높을수록 생활비를 높게 답하는 경향을 통계적으로 걸러내 산출한 것입니다. 조사는 기초역량·생활역량·전환역량 3개 부문으로 나누어 측정했고, 이 부문들은 다시 12개 영역과 75개 세부 지표로 구체화했습니다. 조사 결과는 다음 달 15일 열리는 포럼에서 구체적으로 발표됩니다.
Translation
Professor 계봉오 of the sociology department at 국민대 (Kookmin University) and the 서울시50플러스재단 surveyed 2,058 middle-aged people aged 40 to 64 living in Seoul, running the online fact-finding survey over two months up to last month. The survey found that the monthly living costs a household needs come to 1.96 million won at a minimum, 3.21 million won for an adequate level, and 5.4 million won for a comfortable one. These amounts were produced by asking respondents what level they themselves felt they needed, then statistically filtering out the tendency of higher earners to give higher figures. The survey measured three areas — basic capability, living capability and transition capability — and these were broken down further into 12 domains and 75 detailed indicators. The results will be presented in detail at a forum held on the 15th of next month.
Vocabulary
- 중장년명사 (noun)middle-aged and older adults
- 실태 조사명사 (noun)fact-finding survey, survey of actual conditions
- 생활비명사 (noun)living costs, cost of living
- 적정명사 (noun)an adequate or appropriate level
- 소득명사 (noun)income
- 경향명사 (noun)tendency, inclination
- 지표명사 (noun)indicator, metric
- 산출하다동사 (verb)to calculate, work out (a figure)
Grammar points
-을/를 대상으로targeting N, with N as the subjects
This phrase names who or what a study, programme or measure is aimed at, and it is almost obligatory in Korean survey reporting. What follows it is the sample: 2058명을 대상으로 tells you the denominator every percentage in the article rests on. Use 을 after a consonant and 를 after a vowel. If a report leaves this phrase out, you cannot tell whom the numbers describe.
Example: 서울에 사는 40~64세 중장년 2058명을 대상으로 실태 조사를 했습니다.
They carried out a fact-finding survey of 2,058 middle-aged people aged 40 to 64 living in Seoul.
-(으)ㄹ수록the more ... , the more ...
-(으)ㄹ수록 attaches to a verb or adjective stem and links two things that rise or fall together. Written as one word with no space before 수록, unlike the -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 construction where 수 stands alone. Korean often doubles the stem for emphasis (높으면 높을수록). Here it describes a bias the researchers had to remove: the higher the income, the higher the figure people gave.
Example: 소득이 높을수록 생활비를 높게 답하는 경향이 있었습니다.
The higher their income, the higher the living costs respondents gave.
-(으)ㄴ 뒤에after doing
Attached to a verb stem, -(으)ㄴ 뒤에 puts one completed action before another. The 에 is often dropped in writing, which is what happens in this lesson (물은 뒤). It is interchangeable with -(으)ㄴ 후에 in most contexts; 뒤 is the native Korean word and 후 the Sino-Korean one, and 뒤 reads slightly less formal. Note the -(으)ㄴ ending: the first action has to be finished.
Example: 필요하다고 느끼는 수준을 물은 뒤, 통계적으로 걸러내 산출했습니다.
After asking what level they felt they needed, the researchers filtered the answers statistically and worked out the figures.
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