A Study on an Improvement Plan for Elderly Welfare System in Korea : Focusing on Elderly Welfare System in Germany

In our country where the aging society with low childbirth is around the corner, various dilemmas are taking place in the elderly welfare field. The national, economic and social problems are wholly caused such as being ranked No.1 in the suicide rate of the aged and as possessing the lowest place for the elderly happiness index especially among OECD(Statistics Korea, 2009) countries. This is represented by which realistic difficult problems in diverse sectors such as economy, society and policy of the government appear in succession on the elderly welfare field in our country that is more steeply running toward aging society than any other countries in the world. By way of illustration, the elderly, who are difficult to escape from tunnel of the overlapped pain such as disease, poverty, solitude, and idleness that are called as general elders' '4 pains,' are continuously choosing suicide. Thus, our country obtained disgrace in the world's No.1 of the elderly suicide rate among OECD member countries. This is being supported by a rise in the elderly suicide rate by 3 times enough in about 10 years and by the findings as saying that the suicide rate in more than 65 years old is higher by 4 times than the suicide rate in less than 65 years old. Thus, a situation of elderly problem is just serious. Interlinking with this, even the low childbirth rate, which is possessing the lowest rank(Statistics Korea, 2009) in the current OECD national level, is preparing for bringing tremendous disaster to our society. A cause for low childbirth rate is because women greatly advanced to society owing to the entry into free competing system and to the enhancement in the whole educational level. Also, it is because of being gradually expanded the phenomena such as evasion and delay in pregnancy, childbirth, or marriage due to women of being demanded by a burden for huge child-rearing expenses and educational expenses and by being in charge of financial income for maintaining general 4-member family type. In the meantime, it is because a human being's average life expectancy was extended thanks to the improvement in quality of life and to the development in healthcare technology as a factor of aging society. In this way, our society is faced with diverse problems with having a form in the low childbirth aging society. This leads to reduction in workforce and productivity according to a decrease in production active population, to economic recession caused by slowdown in potential growth rate and economic growth, additionally to exhaustion of pension and a rise in diverse financial burdens owing to a rise in dependent subjects, and to a rise in financial expenditure of huge medical expenses, thereby increasing tax burden in future young generation. Accordingly, this study examined the elderly welfare system in Germany, which is proceeding with spreading new policy alternatives variously on the elderly welfare field with facing the aging society first compared to our country, in order to seek an alternative plan for diverse problems on the elderly welfare field in this ageing society. Germany shows characteristic called 'Integrated Social Policy' of preventing economic loss and enhancing quality of life. In other words, the country is spreading new policies that will prevent inappropriate economic loss in advance and will enhance even quality of life in the elderly. Its example is 'Initiative 50plus Policy' for supporting senior citizens' employment and is giving benefits to the majority of the elderly, with being characterized by 'general social policy,' which integrates diverse spheres over the whole life such as society· social security· economy· population· educational training policy. In recent days, it is turning to the policy line of integrating welfare into the competitive principle of free market with riding the waves of neo-liberalism(Kim Geun-hong, 2005).