Wealth Gap Among MZ Generation Widens... Top 20% Have 35 Times More Assets Than Bottom 20%

Kim Hoe-jae: "The Gap Among People in Their 20s Is Due to 'Wealth Inheritance,' Not Income Differences"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been revealed that the asset gap is deepening even among the MZ generation (people in their 20s and 30s).

On the 11th, according to an analysis of microdata from the Household Finance and Welfare Survey by the Statistics Korea conducted by Kim Hoe-jae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the average assets of households headed by people in their 20s and 30s last year amounted to 318.49 million KRW. This figure increased by 22 million KRW compared to the previous year.

Although the overall average assets increased, the asset gap within the 20s and 30s age group widened. As of last year, the average assets of the bottom 20% (1st quintile) within the 20s and 30s age group were 24.73 million KRW, up 640,000 KRW (2.6%) from the previous year. During the same period, the average assets of the top 20% (5th quintile) were 870.44 million KRW, an increase of 70.31 million KRW (8.8%) compared to the previous year. The asset 5th quintile ratio expanded from 33.21 times in 2019 to 35.20 times last year. The 5th quintile ratio is the value obtained by dividing the average assets of the top 20% by the average assets of the bottom 20%, and a larger multiple indicates worsening inequality.

When broken down by age, the asset gap was larger among people in their 20s than those in their 30s. Last year, the average assets of the bottom 20% of households in their 20s were 8.44 million KRW, while the average assets of the top 20% were 328.55 million KRW. The average assets of the bottom 20% decreased by 1.15 million KRW (-11.9%) compared to the previous year, whereas the average assets of the top 20% increased by 8.17 million KRW (2.5%). Accordingly, the asset 5th quintile ratio for households in their 20s worsened from 33.42 times in 2019 to 38.92 times last year. This figure is significantly higher than the 23.82 times asset 5th quintile ratio of households in their 30s last year.

Conversely, the income gap was smaller among people in their 20s than those in their 30s. An analysis of income by asset quintile for households in their 20s last year showed that the average current income of households with assets in the top 20% was 52.62 million KRW, while the average current income of those in the bottom 20% was 21.45 million KRW. As a result, the income 5th quintile ratio for people in their 20s was 2.45 times, lower than the 3.05 times for those in their 30s.

Rep. Kim said, "It indirectly revealed that the asset gap among households in their 20s is due to wealth inheritance rather than income differences," and "It is now time to break the cycle of unfair opportunities where starting points differ depending on parents' wealth and the inheritance of wealth."

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