Half of poverty-stricken Koreans live alone or belong to two-member families, a report showed Wednesday.

In a report on household patterns issued by the Korea Development Institute, the proportion of families with just one or two members accounted for 54.9 percent of the population whose income falls below the poverty line as of 2010 ― up from 46.9 percent in 2006.

Senior citizens made up 72 percent of the poor, one-member family group, as a growing number of the elderly are forced to live alone and struggle with poor financial conditions, a reflection of a Korean society that is aging at a brisk pace.

“The number of senior citizens who live alone is on the rise, which calls for a new welfare policy that reflects the fast-changing social structure in Korea,” the KDI report said, calling on the government to provide more support to the elderly stuck in poverty.

Only 1.6 million Koreans aged 65 or older receive state pension or other forms of government-supported welfare payout, accounting for just 30 percent of the elderly population.

Korean welfare and social services are largely geared toward families of three to four, but more Koreans are being pushed to live alone, generating a widening gap between the safety net and reality.

Between 2000 and 2010, KDI data showed that Korea saw 1.91 million new one-member families. The number of unmarried Koreans who live alone is also rising sharply.

As the country’s marriage rate is declining and more Koreans delay getting married due to financial difficulties, the KDI said the Korean government should tackle key issues such as the high youth unemployment rate and the growing number of temporary workers.

By Yang Sung-jin (insight@heraldcorp.com)