SMG has implemented policies to support citizens of all ages, except for those in their 40s who face employment insecurity and other challenges due to the rapidly changing environment in an aging society. As almost 39% of the city's population falls in this age group, there has been an increasing demand for preemptive and preventive support for retirement preparation. Additionally, middle-aged individuals aged between 50 and 60 require more diverse and abundant opportunities, depending on their different individual experiences and assets. According to reports, the retirement preparation index for middle-aged adults in Seoul is slightly higher than the national average, but retirement preparation remains insufficient. Only half of the middle-aged adults in Seoul have prepared for retirement, and the financial retirement preparation index is lower than the non-financial retirement preparation index. The identified policy needs of middle-aged adults are income security, retirement planning support, and an extension of the retirement age standard. The employment rate of individuals in their 40s is continuously decreasing, and their digital literacy level drops sharply after their 40s, resulting in a gap in information access and social and economic inequality. In this regard, the Seoul Learn 4050 expanded its support for digital skills development and professional education for middle-aged adult, providing opportunities for income stability improvement through job skills upgrades, digital competency enhancement, and robust life planning opportunities, so that Seoul citizens can live a safer and more energetic life in the later years.

Older people in general, Both older and younger people

Education, Health, Information and Communication, Labour, Social protection

Older people were part of the process at multiple or all stages

Lifelong Learning Bureau of the Seoul Metropolitan Government has led the 5-month process (Sept. December 2022) to develop Seoul’s comprehensive support measures for the middle-aged coordinating all relevant divisions with the city government and the city affiliate organization. The plan has collected and developed programs involving 22 departments within the city office including the Digital Policy Bureau, Welfare Policy Office, Economic Policy Office, and Public Health Planning Bureau participated in the effort. Additionally, eight city affiliate organizations such as the Seoul 50 Plus Foundation, Seoul Lifelong Education Promotion Institute, Seoul Digital Foundation were also involved in the process.

Seoul’s 50 plus initiative was heralded as an innovative pre-emptive measure to support the younger aged group for the first time in the country. While the service pursued a one-stop approach from counseling, education and training, job support, and social activities, most programs in the beginning focused on educational services across its 50-plus campuses, covering a variety of themes, resulting a diversified curriculum led to the loss of its identity. Also, resources were allocated to support the high policy demand for job support for the 50+. One of the initial goals was to develop 50+ job models, which are different from traditional job models - in order to avoid competition with the younger generation in the job market – to utilize the older generation's experience and skill set as social capital. Our social contribution jobs, called "Boram jobs," and the 50+ internship, which allowed the 50+ to do internships at social ventures, startups, civil society etc., have proven that many 50+ need jobs and enjoy contributing to organizations and society. Furthermore, they have the energy and willingness to make a career transition and create social impacts." Overall, the Seoul’s 50 plus initiative has shown that there is a great demand among the 50+generation to plan their retirement life and it – thus needs to be more systematic and universally delivered. Accumulated 7 years experiences of the 50 plus initiative has left us with some challenges, which the city has tried to address in Seoul Learn 4050.

Despite a wide range of services Seoul 50 Plus Foundation was providing under the since 2016, there was still a shortage of services to meet the complex desires of the middle-aged group. On the other hand, a criticism surfaced amongst the city and relevant stakeholders, on lack of professional area that the foundation was serving. Some services were regarded overlapping with other divisions and affiliate organizations, such as lifelong learning institute and social welfare foundation. Having had the 50+initiative plan drawn to an end in 2020 and due to the changes in policy priority in the Seoul Metropolitan Government, there was a comprehensive review of the policies for middle-aged and older adults in Seoul in from 2022. The 50+aged group has shown its highest desire in work and social activities even after retirement, and the greatest policy demand was in job support utilizing their career start-ups and careers. In this context, the current mayor Sehoon OH has announced its plan to build an ecosystem for 50 +workforces in his Seoul Vision 2030 announcement in 2021. With the enactment of revision of the Retirement Planning Support Act nationally and change of SMG’s organizational structure in 2022, the line division of the SMG in charge of middle-aged policy has changed from welfare policy office to the lifelong learning bureau. Though there was an administrative change, the importance to support the middle-aged population was taken high on the city’s policy agenda involving all the city’s relevant offices and affiliate organization which ultimately has led to the mayor’s announcement of the recent comprehensive plan Seoul Learn 4050.

One of the most challenging aspects of implementing Seoul's 50+policy was meeting the diversified needs of middle-aged and older adults. Most 50+individuals want to maintain a work-life balance, generate a reasonable level of economic income after retiring from their primary job, and pursue work that has social value by utilizing their skills and experiences. Furthermore, while the majority still depends on major economic income for their livelihood, many middle-aged groups preferred flexible work types, i.e. part-time, project-based and short-term employment rather than full-time job models. Nonetheless, because Korea's labor market yet has a stiff and rigid system that allows middle-aged labors a flexible work conditions. In the meantime, the middle-aged labors themselves are yet self-prepared or developed their career to fit into the changing labor market needs, so there is often a mismatch between available jobs and job seekers for the middle aged group. Therefore, it is crucial to identify employers in need of middle-aged individuals and develop various employment/job models that cater to their needs while adapting to changing economic and social environments. Creating job models favorable to the middle aged group and also to the labor market was one aspects of this endeavor. To achieve this goal, the labor market needs to develop systems and institutions that can employ middle-aged individuals in various capacities, while middle-aged individuals must make a proactive effort to pursue career development to meet the labor market's expectations.

Seoul’s 50 plus initiative was an innovative approach by the sub-national government to support the target aged group with the comprehensive service; and it has indeed set a good example to be replicated nationwide. However, as the initiative was based merely on the city’s ordinance – its institutional foundation was relatively weak when it encounter policy changes within the city. Given Seoul and the country facing a drastic demographic change – to enter a super-aged society in 2025, the revision enactment of Retirement Planning Support Act provided a timely ground for the city’s middle-aged support plan to be reviewed and announced anew. For a new policy to take root and develop, it requires the interest and policy efforts of politicians, administrators, legislators, academics, and various stakeholders from multiple angles. Even if a new idea is triggered by innovators, more efforts are necessary from diverse social strata should take an institutionale approach to make it a sustainable policy.