Widening Multicultural Acceptance Gap Between Adults and Adolescents... Decreased Openness Due to COVID-19

Adult Decline, Youth Increase Compared to 2018 Survey
'External Openness' Decreased Since COVID-19
Largest Adult-Youth Gap in 'Willingness to Befriend Immigrants'
Agreement on Humanitarian Support for Refugees Up 9% from 3 Years Ago

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Last year, the multicultural acceptance among adults in South Korea decreased, while that among adolescents increased. Due to reduced external interactions caused by COVID-19, the 'external openness' indicator declined regardless of age.

On the 30th, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced the results of the '2021 National Multicultural Acceptance Survey' conducted on 10,000 adolescents and adults. This survey is conducted every three years, and last year, the multicultural acceptance score was 52.27 for adults and 71.39 for adolescents. The acceptance score among adolescents is the highest since the survey began in 2012.

Compared to three years ago, adults' multicultural acceptance decreased by 0.54 points, while adolescents' increased by 0.17 points. The score gap between adults and adolescents widened from 18.41 points to 19.12 points, an increase of 0.71 points.

The largest score gap between adults and adolescents was found in the 'willingness to engage in interaction behavior,' which refers to the willingness to form social relationships with migrants. Over 90% of adolescents responded that they are 'not uncomfortable' with multicultural students being in the same class or becoming friends.

Lee Jeongshim, Director of the Youth and Family Policy Office at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, explained, "Looking at the willingness to engage in interaction behavior, adults scored 38.76 points, while adolescents scored 78.09 points, showing a difference of about 40 points. Although adults' rejection or stereotypes toward migrants have improved significantly, their willingness to actively form relationships remains low."

The younger the age, the higher the multicultural acceptance. Acceptance scores by age group are ▲20s: 54.40 points ▲30s: 52.98 points ▲40s: 52.77 points ▲50s: 51.80 points ▲60 and above: 49.98 points. Among adolescents, middle school students (73.15 points) scored higher than high school students (69.65 points). Although those in their 50s and 60s scored relatively low, their scores increased compared to previous surveys. Among adolescents, middle school students' scores rose by 1.76 points, while high school students' scores fell by 1.43 points.

'42.6% Report Changes in Perception of Migrants Due to COVID-19'

Due to decreased external openness caused by COVID-19, multicultural acceptance was negatively affected.

42.6% of respondents answered that perceptions of migrants in Korean society have changed over the past three years. They cited the 'COVID-19 outbreak situation' as the reason for this change. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also warned that international population movement was a significant factor in the early spread of COVID-19 and that the pandemic situation could negatively impact perceptions of migrants.

Compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak, both adults and adolescents showed declines in scores related to 'external openness' within multicultural acceptance. Among adults, the willingness to act as global citizens decreased by 4.02 points, willingness to engage in interaction behavior dropped by 3.72 points, and cultural openness fell by 1.3 points. Adolescents also showed declines in willingness to act as global citizens (-3.92 points) and cultural openness (-2.05 points).

Opportunities to encounter migrants in daily life also decreased. The percentage of respondents who said they had never seen migrants on the street or elsewhere more than doubled compared to 2018. For adults, it increased from 4.5% to 12.4%, and for adolescents, from 9.0% to 18.0%.

Director Lee Jeongshim explained, "There is a tendency for multicultural acceptance to be higher when migrants are seen more frequently in daily life. The decrease in opportunities to meet migrants due to the spread of COVID-19 and social distancing is one of the causes for the decline in adults' multicultural acceptance and the reduced increase in adolescents' multicultural acceptance."

33.7% Agree with Expanding Refugee Acceptance... Pride in Single Ethnicity Declines

The rate of agreement for humanitarian support for refugees and foreigners improved compared to three years ago. 33.7% of respondents agreed with relaxing refugee recognition criteria to expand international refugee acceptance, and 43.0% agreed with providing social security benefits such as health insurance to refugees and asylum seekers. These figures increased by 9.1 percentage points and 9.2 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous survey.

The percentage of respondents who believe that expanding cultural diversity through race and ethnicity contributes to national competitiveness was 38.1%, up 3.4 percentage points from the previous survey. 39.3% answered that it is good for any country to have diverse races, religions, and cultures coexisting, and 37.3% said that an increase in foreign migrants enriches South Korean culture.

Regarding beliefs about a single ethnicity, 35.9% agreed with the statement, "Accepting multiple ethnic groups as citizens undermines national cohesion," 45.1% agreed that "It is very proud that Korea has maintained a single ethnic lineage for a long time," and 33.2% agreed that "The fact that Korea is a single-ethnic nation helps enhance national competitiveness." Although pride in a single ethnicity has decreased compared to 2018, concerns about accepting diverse ethnic groups have simultaneously increased.

Multicultural education and related activities also contributed to increasing multicultural acceptance. The participation rate in multicultural education was 5.2% for adults and 53.6% for adolescents. Both adults and adolescents who participated in multicultural education scored 4.86 points and 2.38 points higher, respectively, than non-participants.

Based on the results of the multicultural acceptance survey, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will strengthen 'visiting multicultural understanding education' and improve the quality of education by developing content. To increase opportunities for interaction between native residents and multicultural families, 80 exchange and communication spaces will be operated, and the 'visiting marriage immigrant Daieum project period' will be extended from 5 months to 10 months. The ministry will also conduct multicultural impact assessments to ensure that government policies do not contain discriminatory elements against multiculturalism by providing policy advice.

Minister Jeong Young-ae of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said, "Participation in multicultural understanding education and activities positively affects multicultural acceptance. We will further strengthen age-specific multicultural understanding education and increase opportunities for exchange and communication to enhance multicultural acceptance in our society."

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