Youth in Crisis... "I Am in Educational and Housing Poverty, No Hope"

Youth 76.3% "Unable to Secure Own Home with My Ability"

Kim (30, female), who majored in visual design at university, has been knocking on the doors of various companies to find a job but has repeatedly failed in document screening and interviews, remaining in the position of a job seeker. She has often considered obtaining more certifications but turned back after seeing the considerable tuition fees at academies more than once.

She occasionally does odd jobs or short-term part-time work to cover living expenses, as suggested by acquaintances, but she is always struggling with a deficit. She was burdened by the monthly rent for her one-room apartment, due on the 5th of every month, and considered looking for a jeonse (long-term lease) house once her contract ended, but she had to give up due to the recent surge in jeonse fraud cases. Kim feels hopeless about how long she must continue living this uncertain life.

The number of young people who consider themselves to be in poverty is increasing. The self-deprecating appeals of young people, who find it difficult to enter society with their own abilities due to prolonged employment difficulties and rising housing prices, have become a social issue.

The Korea Youth Policy Institute under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced the main results of the “Study on the Reality of Youth Poverty and the Establishment of a Self-Reliance Safety Net System II” on the 15th, conducted on 4,032 young people nationwide aged 19 to 34.

According to this survey, 81.2% of respondents answered that it is necessary to acquire a house in their own name (homeownership). The most common reason was “to live a stable life” at 80.7%, followed by “for asset appreciation” (9.3%) and “to get married” (6.0%).

However, young people said that it is impossible to prepare a home with their income alone and that parental support is essential. When asked, “Is it possible to prepare housing with your income alone?” 76.3% of young people answered “impossible.” Also, 76.9% said that “parental financial support is absolutely necessary when preparing a home.”

Additionally, among 3,550 university and graduate school students and graduates surveyed, 40.8% said they had received counseling or other career preparation services outside of regular education at university. During their university education, 30.0% prepared for their careers through private education such as academies, with reasons including “job or civil service exam preparation” (42.9%), “certification preparation” (31.4%), and “supplementing school (major) education” (11.9%).

Furthermore, one in three young people considered themselves to be in poverty in terms of education or housing environment. Overall, 27.8% identified themselves as educationally impoverished, and 31.3% as housing impoverished. In particular, the tendency to consider oneself educationally impoverished due to inadequate education or training was stronger among older age groups.

This phenomenon is analyzed as a result of the recent ongoing economic difficulties, which have reduced employment opportunities and narrowed the space for young people. Hyungjoo Kim, senior research fellow at the Korea Youth Policy Institute, pointed out, “Various deficiencies are occurring across all aspects of young people’s lives.”

In fact, according to the “April 2023 Employment Trends” announced by Statistics Korea, the number of employed young people (aged 15?29) decreased by 137,000, marking the largest decline in two years and two months since February 2021 (-142,000). The decline has been sharp for six consecutive months.

Researcher Kim emphasized, “Poverty among young people has been viewed as something that can be resolved simply by getting a job, but the prolonged youth employment difficulties are the problem,” adding, “It is time to expand policy support considering the multidimensional aspects of young people’s lives.”

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