Poll: 60 Percent of Subscribers Support Basic Pension System

Six out of 10 subscribers to the National Pension system support the proposal to fundamentally reform the existing system and introduce a basic pension system, according to a survey. Two out of 10 subscribers approved the proposal to revise the existing system by changing pension fees and payouts.

As the IMF pointed out the urgency of reforming the National Pension system, Dong-a Ilbo asked the Korea Research Center (KRC), a specialized survey center, to conduct a survey on proposals to reform the system. A total of 502 subscribers aged 20 and above participated in the survey, which was conducted on April 11.

According to the survey, 60.4 percent of respondents supported a proposal to introduce a basic pension system, which would provide all senior citizens with an annuity amounting to a minimum livelihood cost, and which would increase the number of subscribers with income. The Grand National Party (GNP), Democratic Labor Party, and the People`s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), a civil organization, are pushing for the basic pension system.

However, when it came to the proposal to raise pension fees by 15.9 percent until 2030 and cut the pension payouts to half of average income until 2008, only 16.8 percent approved, while 73.5 percent were opposed.

It seems the public distrust in the existing system is being reflected in the high approval rates of the basic pension system. A total of 60.5 percent attributed the “fund depletion crisis” to the government’s poor management of the pension fund.

The survey was conducted through telephone interviews with National Pension subscribers based on region, sex, age and occupation. The survey has a sampling error of ±4.4 percent with a 95 percent confidence level. More information can be found at donga.com.

What Is the Basic Pension System?-

It is a pension system designed to offer a fixed amount of pension benefits to all senior citizens. The same amount of annuity is provided to senior subscribers regardless of previous income level or occupation.

Hee-Kyung Kim sunny60@donga.com susanna@donga.com