"18% of Youth Receive Vocational Training... Below OECD Average"

"Youth Jobs: Education, Welfare, Labor, and Regulations Must Be Relaxed"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The proportion of young people receiving vocational training was 18%, less than half of the OECD average of 44%.

The Advanced Social Welfare Research Association held a forum titled "How to Solve Youth Employment" on the 16th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Daehwan, Honorary Chairman of the Pan-Social Civic Group Federation Lee Gapsan, and Professor Kim Taegi of Dankook University's Department of Economics attended the seminar.

Professor Kim, who gave the keynote presentation, stated, "Youth high unemployment and underemployment have worsened," adding, "The expanded youth unemployment rate rose to 27% in the first quarter of 2021, meaning one in four young people is unemployed." He also pointed out that the proportion receiving vocational training was 18%, less than half of the OECD average of 55%.

He further analyzed that the younger the age, the lower the income and the higher the debt. Professor Kim said, "Looking at the debt growth rate in the third quarter of last year, the youth debt increase was more than twice that of the middle-aged group," and "while earned income decreased by 4.3% for those under 39, it increased by 5% for those over 60."

In fact, according to financial statistics from the Bank of Korea, household loans among the youth increased by 8.% in the third quarter of last year, and the loan-to-income ratio (LTI) of young borrowers rose by 14.9 percentage points.

In response, Professor Kim stated, "Worsening unemployment leads to an expansion of fiscal deficits," and emphasized, "It is necessary to move away from welfare and fiscal omnipotence and implement comprehensive reforms in education, welfare, labor, and regulation." He added, "Looking at the experiences of OECD countries where youth employment problems worsened, 75% pursued government reforms."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.