The number of elderly households suffering from poverty has doubled in the last seven years, the Korea Economic Research Institute said Monday.

An elderly household refers to a household comprised only of those aged 65 and above.

The number of elderly, mother-and-son and single-person households accounted for 69.1 percent of the entire poverty population in 2013, up from 50 percent in 2006.

According to the KERI, the number of elderly households whose living costs are funded by the government stood at 1.48 million in 2013, more than double the 720,000 people in 2006.

The amount funded by the government accounted for about 60 percent of their entire income.

Amid the steadily rising number of elderly in poverty, the government should reframe the welfare policy to support the elderly population in poverty rather than creating job opportunities for them, the KERI official said.