South Korea Should Adopt ‘Time Banks’ To Support Aging Society, World Bank Economist Says

Among the 34 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea is perceived as the country with the highest poverty and senior citizens suicide rates, according to an article published in The Korea Times. For this reason Philip O'Keefee, an economist at the World Bank, suggested that the government needs to embrace an innovative way to increase the number of volunteers that are helping the country's senior citizens in dealing with their loneliness and poverty.

O'Keefe said South Korea should adopt the concept of "Time Banking" or "Time Banks" so that volunteers who are practically spending their time in helping and supporting the the elderly will be encouraged to do so as their efforts and services will be reciprocated with credits.

"When you are a younger-old person, you give your time to look after an older person. Essentially, you get credit for the number of hours you spend volunteering. When you become an older person, you get the same number of hours that you put in when you were a younger-old person," O'Keefe explained during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul.

With reference to the 2014 report of the World Health Organization, South Korea falls in a critical category in terms of suicide rates compared to other countries acorss the world. Statistically, for every 100,000 senior citizens in the country aging 70-years-old and above, 116.2 kill themselves.

O'Keefe added that since the country's aging population, particularly comprising of those who are 65-years-old and above, represents more than 14 percent of the entire population, it should consider setting up more assertive pension policies.

According to the World Bank report, countries in East Asia and the Pacific "with mature but low-coverage mandated contributory systems should also consider shifting the balance of their pension system financing toward general revenue-financed redistribution and modest benefits levels." However, this shift should not "compromise incentives to participate in the contributory scheme."