'32.5% of the Population' MZ Generation "Hope for Housing Policies? Support for Home Purchase and Jeonse Loan"

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The MZ generation, who are at the stage of purchasing their first home in life, prioritized 'loan support for housing purchase funds and jeonse (long-term deposit lease) funds' as their desired housing policies. Additionally, 81% of single-person households in the MZ generation independently cover their living expenses, which is higher than the 23.9% of households living with parents, and the proportion of jeonse and monthly rent by housing occupancy type reached 81.3%.

The spring 2022 issue of 'KOSTAT Statistics Plus,' published on the 30th by the Statistics Development Institute (SRI) of Statistics Korea, contains an analysis of key issues such as the demographic characteristics of the MZ generation, sources of living expenses, housing conditions, and desired housing policies.

According to Statistics Korea, the MZ generation in South Korea numbers 16,229,000, accounting for 32.5% of the total population. The M generation, born between 1980 and 1994, numbers 10,330,000 (20.6%), and the Z generation, born between 1995 and 2005, numbers 5,969,000 (11.9%).

When asked about the housing policies they hope the government will implement, 54.2% of the MZ generation chose loan support for housing purchase funds, and 53.1% chose loan support for jeonse funds. This analysis by Statistics Korea is based on the 2020 Housing Survey statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in August last year. This was followed by the supply of long-term public rental housing (22.4%), public sale housing supply (17.2%), and public rental housing supply (15.7%).

In particular, the M generation, who are at the life cycle stage of purchasing a home after marriage, ranked loan support for housing purchase funds as their top desired housing policy, whereas heads of Z generation households, who have a higher proportion of jeonse and monthly rent residents, prioritized loan support for jeonse and monthly rent funds. The M generation responded with 58.8% for housing purchase loan support and 50.9% for jeonse loan support, while the Z generation showed 65.8% for jeonse loan support and 37.8% for monthly rent subsidy support, showing some differences.

Looking at the housing occupancy types by household composition within the MZ generation, single-person households had 55.2% monthly rent, 26.1% jeonse, and 12.7% owner-occupied housing, which is 54.2 percentage points higher in jeonse and monthly rent proportion (81.3%) compared to 27.1% for households living with parents.

Regarding sources of living expenses by household composition, 72.9% of single-person households in the MZ generation rely on their own work or job, 17.4% on parental support, and 5.1% on financial assets. The proportion relying on their own work or job was 18.9 percentage points higher than that of households living with parents, while the proportion relying on parental support was 23.8 percentage points lower. The proportion of those who independently cover their living expenses was also higher for single-person households at 81%, compared to 57.1% for households living with parents, a difference of 23.9 percentage points.

The average age by household composition in the MZ generation was highest for couples with children at 35.8 years and lowest for households living with parents at 24 years. By gender, single-person households consisted of 57% males and 43% females, with the male proportion 14 percentage points higher, while couples with children consisted of 42% males and 58% females, with the female proportion 16 percentage points higher. Statistics Korea analyzed this as a result of men marrying later than women.

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