Retirees Hurt by Worsening Relationship with Children

Older people's quality of life gets rapidly worse when they retire, not because they feel the pinch very keenly or their health deteriorates but because they become estranged from their children.

The Korea Employment Information Service studied the changes in income and happiness among 2,234 people over 45 who remained employed or retired during the eight years since 2006 or made the painful switch.

The study showed that quality of life deteriorated among those remained in retirement, and the way they felt about their relationship with their children worsened the most. Their happiness in that regard fell from 75.4 points out of 100 to 62.5. Satisfaction in their relationship with their spouse also fell from 74.3 to 65.8 points.

They were far less affected by deteriorating health, down from 57.7 to 51.2 points, or wealth at 54.6 to 50.9.

But people who remained in work the whole time rated their relationship with their children at 71.3, their relationship with their spouse 69.2 and their health 65.5, far higher than the retirees.