An analysis has revealed that 46% of individuals living alone fall under the "non-intimate type," characterized by having few people to share their inner thoughts with and infrequent contact with others.

Among those in their 60s approaching retirement, 41% relied heavily on private assets such as houses and savings rather than regular income like public pensions, due to insufficient preparation for old age.

While the publicly announced average score for retirement preparation in South Korea has risen to near the 70-point mark—giving the overall impression of improvement—looking at groups by household type and age reveals stark vulnerabilities in social relations and financial conditions.

Hwang Nam-hee, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), shed light on these realities by analyzing the results of the "2024 Retirement Preparation Survey," which covered 3,040 adults aged 30 to 69 nationwide, published in the September 2026 issue of the Health and Welfare Forum.

According to the report released on the 22nd, an analysis of relationships with people around them showed that 30.6% of the total respondents belonged to the "non-intimate type," where they had few people to share their inner thoughts with, infrequent meetings, and consequently lower satisfaction.

This relational disconnection was far more severe among single-person households. The proportion of the non-intimate type—those lacking confidants among people living alone—reached a staggering 46.2%. This is 18.4 percentage points (p) higher than that of multi-person households living with family (27.8%).

On the other hand, the proportion of the "intimate type," who frequently meet people and share deep bonds, reached 41.5% for those living with family, but stood at only 27.2% for single-person households.

Looking into the financial status concerning livelihood reveals another element of anxiety. Only 35.8% of people had "public assets" coming in regularly every month, such as the National Pension. The remaining 64.2% were in a position where they had to get through old age relying on "private assets," such as savings they had accumulated or a single house they live in.

In particular, the vulnerability of those in their 60s, who are soon to step down from the workforce, stood out.

Among those in their 60s, 41.1% suffered from insufficient retirement preparation while showing a high reliance on private assets.

The report pointed out that the "optical illusion" masked by superficial statistical figures must also be guarded against.

The narrowing gap in retirement preparation by educational background over the past five years was not only due to improved preparation levels among less well-off strata, but also largely influenced by a drop in the preparation scores of college-educated and higher groups, who previously scored the highest.

Furthermore, the gap in retirement preparation between large cities and rural agricultural/fishing villages widened further compared to five years ago, indicating aggravated regional inequality.

Senior Research Fellow Hwang Nam-hee diagnosed that uniform policies aimed simply at raising average scores have clear limitations. Customized prescriptions are needed to precisely treat the pain points of each group, she noted.

Hwang suggested that for single-person households, support for mental health and the formation of social relationships should be strengthened, while for those in their 60s with vulnerable retirement preparation, linked housing pension systems and job support to generate income even after retirement should be reinforced.

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