"I'll Just Rest at Home"... Number of Job Seekers Giving Up Employment Jumps Three Years After Graduation

Higher Rates Than Before COVID-19 Spread
Many Give Up Job Search After 3 Years Post-Graduation

As the number of young people who have not been employed for more than three years approaches 220,000, a survey found that 80,000 of them are so-called 'NEETs' spending time at home.

According to the supplementary survey microdata on the economically active population of young people (ages 15-29) from Statistics Korea on the 22nd, youth employment rates and economic participation rates are showing strong performance, surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels.

The youth employment rate increased from 43.6% in 2019 to 47.8% last year as of May, then slightly declined to 47.6% this year. The economic participation rate also rose from 48.4% in 2019 to 51.5% last year as of the same month, before dropping to 50.5% this year.

However, the proportion of 'long-term NEETs' was found to be higher than before the spread of COVID-19.

As of May, 218,000 young people who had graduated (including completion and dropout) from their final school had not been employed for more than three years. Among them, 80,000 young people, accounting for 36.7% of the total, spent their time at home without engaging in vocational training, preparing for employment exams, job searching, childcare, or housework.

Job seekers looking at the job posting board at the job fair [Image source=Yonhap News]

In terms of headcount, this number has been gradually decreasing from 96,000 in 2021 and 84,000 last year. However, it was still higher than in 2018 (54,000) and 2019 (64,000). While the youth population is declining, the number of long-term NEETs remains above pre-COVID-19 levels.

In particular, the proportion of NEETs tends to increase as the period of unemployment extends beyond three years.

The proportion of NEETs unemployed for more than three years was in the 20% range, rising from 24.0% in 2018 before the COVID-19 outbreak to 24.7% in 2019 and 25.5% in 2020, then sharply increasing to 34.7% in 2021 and further to 37.4% last year.

As the youth population declines, the long-term NEET rate has exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels. The proportion of NEETs tends to increase when the unemployment period extends beyond three years.
[Image source=Getty Images]

The proportion of NEETs was 23.9% when the unemployment period was less than six months, rising to 27.3% when it was six months to less than one year, then decreasing to 19.2% for one year to less than two years, and 21.1% for two years to less than three years, before sharply increasing to 36.7% for more than three years.

Regarding the proportion engaged in activities aimed at employment, it was 53.0% when the unemployment period was less than six months and 58.2% when it was one to less than two years, both over half, but dropped sharply to 36.5% when the unemployment period exceeded three years.

Employment-related activities include job searching, vocational training, and attending libraries or academies to prepare for employment exams. The decline in this proportion after three years is analyzed to be due to an increasing rate of giving up on employment after three years post-graduation.

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