노후소득보장 사각지대의 현황과 개선방안 : Its Status and Improvement Policy = Old Age Income Protection Blind Zone

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The public pension system in Korea, a country where the highest ageing of population is recorded among the OECD countries while crude birth is declining fast at the same time, has many inherent problems, among them the financial imbalance structure due to low contribution and high benefit, the existence of a large number of people excluded from the purview of the pension system due to various eligibility or other criteria (blind zone). inequity between workplace workers and self-employed and widespread distrust on pension fund management of the National pension Corporation are the most serious problems.
In this paper, I have analyzed the magnitude of the blind zone (Section 2) as a
first step to evaluate the Korean public pension scheme which is supposed to provide universal coverage for old age protection, reviewed the expansion of the old age pension scheme as a supplementary policy and some other measures within the current framework to address the blind zone problem (section 3), and lastly, presently, a fundamental reform of the current system by transformation of present system into a multi-pilar pension system (Section 4) as an alternative.
There could be several policy alternatives to resolve the blind zone problem in public pension system, including the expansion of old age pension as a supplement under public assistance program, introduction of credit system into the current national pension scheme and expansion of pension beneficiaries by linking with other public pension schemes. Given the serious nature of the problem and the vast number of excluded people, these alternatives may not be sufficient enough to resolve the problem fundamentally. Consequently, it is my considered recommendation that the National Pension System be reformed to include the basic pension and the earning related pension. Under the two pillar system, it is desirable to provide old age pension to all elderly exceeding certain age, regardless of their contribution. As public pension system is a permanent pension system, the sustainability is very important attribute. In this respect, social consensus is required for a desirable public pension system in the long run. It is inevitable to reform the public pension system in order to respond to the rapidly changing socioeconomic environment flexibly in the 21st century.