Six in Ten Adults Say "It's Hard to Move Social Classes Even with Effort"... Half Say "Same for the Next Generation"

Yeoljung Net "Social and Economic Lower Class"... Pessimistic About Social Mobility
58% of Household Heads "No Income Surplus Compared to Living Expenses"

Participants attending the 2022 Presidential Election Response Youth Action 'Flag of Anger Action' held at Hanbit Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 14th, marching to the Blue House./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been found that 6 out of 10 Korean adults believe that social class mobility is difficult even with effort. More than half also think that social mobility will not be easy for the next generation. Four out of ten adults considered themselves to belong to the lower social and economic class. More than half of household heads felt that their income was not sufficient compared to their usual living expenses.

According to the results of the "2021 Social Survey" released by Statistics Korea on the 17th, among the population aged 19 and older, only 25.2% believed that if they make an effort, their social and economic status could rise in their generation. On the other hand, 60.6% thought the possibility was low. Among them, 41.1% considered the possibility of social mobility to be "relatively low," and 19.4% thought it was "very low." Regarding the possibility of social mobility for their children’s generation, 29.3% thought it was "high," while 53.8% thought it was "low."

Those who considered their own social and economic status to be low tended to view social mobility as difficult. Among those who considered themselves upper class, 55.9% believed the possibility of social mobility in their generation was high, while only 38.7% thought it was low. Conversely, among those who considered themselves lower class, only 14.9% viewed social mobility positively, and 65.0% thought the possibility was low.

Those who considered themselves lower class were also more pessimistic about their children’s chances of upward mobility. Among those who considered themselves upper class, 44.4% thought their children’s social mobility would be low, whereas 55.7% of those who considered themselves lower class responded that their children’s social mobility would be difficult.

Among the population aged 19 and older, the largest proportion (58.8%) thought their social and economic status belonged to the "middle" class. Among them, 21.7% considered themselves upper-middle, and 37.2% considered themselves lower-middle. By income, more than half of those with a monthly household income of 2 million won or more thought their social and economic status was "middle" or higher. However, 38.5% considered themselves lower class. Among those with a monthly household income below 1 million won, 71.9% considered themselves lower class, and among those with less than 2 million won, 55.9% did so. Only 2.7% thought their social and economic status was "upper."

Among household heads aged 19 and older, only 11.9% responded that their actual income was "sufficient" compared to the household’s average minimum monthly living expenses. On the other hand, 57.9% answered that they had "no surplus." The remaining 30.2% said their income was "adequate." By age group, the highest proportion who felt their income was sufficient was in their 40s (15.0%), and the lowest was those aged 60 and above (8.9%). Among household heads aged 19 and older, 32.1% reported that their household income had "decreased" compared to a year ago, and 26.2% said their debt had "increased." 21.4% thought their household financial situation would worsen in the future. If financial conditions deteriorate, the expenses they would cut first (multiple answers allowed) were dining out (65.7%), clothing (44.6%), groceries (43.5%), and culture/leisure (36.1%).

Among the population aged 19 and older, 48.2% answered that they consider both work and family life important, an increase of 4.0 percentage points from the recent survey (44.2%). This is the highest since the statistical criteria changed in 2011. Those who prioritized family life over work (18.3%) also increased by 4.6 percentage points, marking the highest since 2011. About one in five adults thought family comes before work.

Among the population aged 13 and older, the most important factor when choosing a job was income (38.7%). Stability (24.8%) and aptitude/interest (13.8%) followed. Among youths aged 13 to 34, the most desired workplace was large corporations (21.6%), followed by public enterprises (21.5%) and government agencies (21.0%). Among them, 24.0% of high school students and 22.3% of middle school students wanted to become public officials and work for government agencies in the future. Half (50.5%) of the population aged 13 and older still viewed "childcare burden" as the biggest obstacle to women’s employment.

Meanwhile, in this survey, 72.5% of elderly people aged 60 and above cited themselves or their spouse as the source of living expenses. Support from children or relatives was 14.1%, and government or social organization support was 13.4%. Among those who bear living expenses themselves or with their spouse, the main source was earned income and business income (57.3%). This means that the elderly and their spouses work to cover living expenses. Since 2011, support from oneself/spouse and government/social organizations has been increasing, while support from children/relatives has been decreasing.

Among elderly people aged 60 and above, 69.2% responded that they currently live separately from their children. 77.2% said they would like to continue living separately in the future. They find living separately comfortable and are capable of independent living. Among the population aged 19 and older, 67.4% answered that they are preparing or have prepared for old age. The most common preparation method was the National Pension at 59.1%. Reasons for not preparing included lack of ability to prepare (36.8%) and plans to prepare in the future (36.2%).

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