The data showing that people 65 or older account for more than half of the nation's households living on welfare — topping the 50 percent mark for the first time in March — represent only a part of the financial difficulties confronting the nation's growing ranks of senior citizens. Some estimates show that 1 out of 4 to 5 senior citizens lives on income below the poverty line, though their savings and other assets do not figure in these calculations. There are warnings that poverty of the elderly generation will become more serious in the future — given the problems that many of today's younger generation face. The government should grasp what the figures imply and quickly explore policy responses.

The total number of welfare-dependent households hit a record 1.63 million in March, with the number of welfare recipients reaching 2.16 million, or 1.71 out of every 100 people in this country. But the households led by those 65 or older that live on welfare program under the Livelihood Assistance Law numbered 826,656, or roughly 6 percent of the nation's estimated 12.21 million elderly households. About 90 percent of the welfare-dependent elderly households consisted of a single member — meaning senior citizens living alone, possibly with no relatives they can turn to for help.

The number of welfare-dependent elderly households rose 1.7 times over the past decade. The trend of an increase in senior welfare recipients pushing up the total figure — offsetting the fall in recipients among the working-age generations due to improving employment conditions — is deemed likely to continue. The growing ranks of the elderly on welfare may reflect a rise in the number of people who receive either little or no public-pension benefits, with little or only meager-paying job opportunities available to them. The problem may also represent a collapse of the traditional pattern of working-age people providing economic support for their aging parents — because younger people are too hard pressed financially to help their parents.