The purpose of the study is to research what factors affect the will to live of the elderly. The will to life means
desire to try to do and learn something for others and themselves, as the desire for social participation. On basis
of precedent study that social activities are done in social networks, this study is focused on the social networks of
the elderly. Social networks are divided into structure( formal and informal) and function(give and take) and
confirm the difference of the will to live between structures and functions of social network. The subjects were
10.541 people over 65 years old who answered on 2014 national survey results on the elderly life conditions and
welfare need. Major findings are as following: First, the structure of formal network influenced in desire for social
participation, compared with the structure of informal social network made of families, siblings, and friends.
Secondly, as far as function of informal social network is concerned, function(taking) is less influenced than
function(giving) on desire for social participation. In conclusion, as desire for social participation of the elderly is
more related with formal social network and function(giving) than informal social network and function(taking).
This results will help the elderly to increase the will to live by participating various social activities and enlarge
the size of social networks.