Development on the New Kinds of Occupation Suitable for Elderly in Rural

농촌노인에게 적합한 부업직종 개발에 관한 연구

New occupational types, suitable for the elderly, have been developed in order to extend job opportunities for that demographic. However, it was mainly done from the perspective of the urban elderly and did not take into account the rural elderly's needs and the special conditions in rural areas. Especially, as 53.4% of the rural elderly 60 years old and over has engaged in economic activities and 88.7% of them are working in the field of agriculture or forestry, the development on the new kinds of job for the rural elderly is more meaningful as secondary jobs rather than as new occupations. Therefore, this study aimed at developing the new kinds of occupation suitable for the rural elderly. For this purpose, data were collected from 279 elderly farmers 60 years old and over working currently or have ever worked in something other than farming work. Questionnaires were composed to measure preferences for jobs by work characteristics and evaluations on the appropriateness of the jobs for the elderly selected by the Ministry of Labor in Korea. The results showed that the rural elderly preferred work doing at home, together with the elderly, in groups, and light physical labor to technical or office work that must commute regularly. Also, they evaluated that most of the occupations suitable for the elderly announced by the Ministry of Labor were more suitable for the male than the female elderly. Based on these findings, this study selected 18 kinds of individual and 11 common jobs by sex. It may contribute to creating job opportunities for the rural elderly by applying it to the policy or extension, and to revitalizing the rural elderly's lives and increasing their incomes.