Crippling Academy Fees...Common People Spend More Than on 'Food + Housing'

Statistics Korea Microdata Analysis Results
Top 20% Income Group Spends 1.14 Million Won Monthly
1st and 2nd Quintiles Spend More Than on Housing and Food

It has been revealed that low-income families with middle and high school children spend more on their children's private academy fees each month than on food or housing expenses. In the case of high-income families, the spending was at a similar level to food and housing costs.

According to Yonhap News on the 25th, an analysis of microdata from the Statistics Korea Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed that in the first quarter of this year, households in the top 20% income bracket (quintile 5) with children aged 13 to 18 spent an average of 1,143,000 KRW per month on private academy and supplementary education expenses. This accounted for 17.5% of their average monthly expenditure (6,530,000 KRW).

The average monthly spending on groceries and non-alcoholic beverages for these households was 636,000 KRW, and housing, water, and utility expenses were 539,000 KRW. In other words, the academy fees were roughly equivalent to the total monthly food and housing expenses for the entire family.

For households in the 4th quintile under the same conditions, spending on private academy and supplementary education was 849,000 KRW, and for the 3rd quintile, it was 636,000 KRW, both exceeding food and housing costs.

Low-income households, which generally allocate a high proportion of their total consumption expenditure to food, clothing, and shelter, were also found to spend a significant amount on academy fees.

Households in the 1st quintile with middle and high school children spent an average of 482,000 KRW per month on private academy and supplementary education in the first quarter, which was more than their spending on groceries and non-alcoholic beverages (481,000 KRW) or housing expenses (356,000 KRW). Similarly, households in the 2nd quintile spent 515,000 KRW on academy fees, surpassing their grocery expenses (465,000 KRW) and housing costs (417,000 KRW).

Seoul Gangnam-gu Daechi-dong Academy District Photo by Yonhap News

Looking at expenses by subject, English had the highest private education costs. According to the "2022 Survey on Private Education Expenses for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students" jointly released by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea, the average monthly private education expense for English was 123,000 KRW.

Mathematics followed with 116,000 KRW, Korean language with 34,000 KRW, social studies and science with 18,000 KRW, and essay writing with 13,000 KRW.

There was also a trend showing that higher academic achievement correlated with higher private education spending. Among high school students, those in the top 10% of their class spent an average of 590,000 KRW per month on private education. Students ranked between the top 11-30% spent 545,000 KRW, and those between 31-60% spent 478,000 KRW.

By region, Seoul had the highest average monthly private education expenditure at 596,000 KRW, followed by Gyeonggi Province (446,000 KRW), Daegu (437,000 KRW), and Sejong (418,000 KRW). Jeollanam-do had the lowest at 261,000 KRW.

The participation rate in private education was also highest in Seoul at 84.3%, followed by Gyeonggi and Sejong at 82.1% and 80.5%, respectively. In Seoul, the participation rate among elementary school students reached 91.2%.

Meanwhile, according to the "2022 Survey on Private Education Expenses for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students" released by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea in March this year, the total private education expenses amounted to approximately 26 trillion KRW. This represents an increase of about 11% compared to 2021 (23.4 trillion KRW) and is the highest since the survey began in 2007.

The average monthly private education expense per student was 410,000 KRW, showing a continuous sharp increase following 2020 (302,000 KRW) and 2021 (367,000 KRW).

Additionally, private education expenses were found to increase with grade level. The average monthly private education expense per student was 372,000 KRW for elementary school students, 438,000 KRW for middle school students, and 460,000 KRW for high school students.

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