A new survey shows that out of a variety of life stressors, a whopping 57 percent of Koreans were worried about health, with 70 percent of those over 60 years old worried about health the most.

The survey by Hankook Research published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism examined the quality of life and life satisfaction of 1,500 Korean adults.

The survey showed the biggest worries for citizens were health and medical care (57.2 percent), followed by job and income (49.4 percent), social security and welfare (30.2 percent), childcare and education (28.5 percent), and the environment and natural disaster safety (27.3 percent).

Older citizens were particularly worried about their health and medical care. Around 70 percent of those over 60 years old were about health and medical care, and 20 percent said that health and medical care should be the sector on which the government should be focusing its most efforts.

Experts have cited that concerns regarding health -- maybe to excessive degrees – are a reason Koreans enjoy one of the longest life expectancies in the world.

The survey showed that young adults who had well-paying jobs that offer work-life balance were the happiest. People who had family also reported higher life satisfaction than those that did not.

Money also played a role in life satisfaction. Those who made 6 million to 6.99 million won ($5,600-$6,530) scored 7.2 points, which was higher the 6.3 points scored by those who made 3 million to 3.99 million won. People who earned less than 1 million won scored 5.5 points.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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