4 out of 10 Koreans Say "Overall Living Conditions in Korea Have Improved"

Statistics Korea '2023 Social Survey Results'

Four out of ten Koreans feel that the overall living conditions in Korean society have improved compared to two years ago.

According to the "2023 Social Survey Results" released by Statistics Korea on the 8th, 39.1% of respondents aged 19 and older answered that living conditions in Korean society have improved. Those who responded that conditions have worsened accounted for 12.2%, while 48.7% said there was no change. Among the respondents, 45.7% said healthcare services have improved, 42.7% said social security systems have improved, and 39.4% said cultural and leisure living conditions have improved.

Among the population aged 19 and older, 69.7% responded that they are preparing for old age. The most common preparation method was the National Pension at 59.1%. The areas where society should pay attention to support the elderly's lives were old-age income support (36.9%), medical and nursing care services (30.1%), and old-age employment support (21.7%) in that order.

The preferred ways to spend old age were hobbies (42.9%) and travel/tourism activities (29.7%). However, among those aged 60 and older, current old-age living methods were largely hobbies (33.2%) and income-generating activities (32.2%).

The main source of living expenses for elderly people aged 60 and over was self or spouse support at 76.0%, followed by support from children or relatives at 12.0%. Government and social organization support accounted for only 11.9%.

The percentage of people who responded that they can trust our society was 58.1%, an increase of 2.4 percentage points compared to two years ago. However, those who responded that they trust society very much decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 4.1% compared to two years ago.

The proportion of people who participated in group activities such as social gatherings, hobbies, and religious organizations in the past year was 64.2%, an increase of 28.4 percentage points from 35.8% two years ago.

During the same period, 23.7% of people had made donations, 38.8% expressed willingness to donate in the future, and 10.6% had experience in volunteer activities.

The proportion of people who considered their socio-economic status as "middle" or "upper" was 61.6% and 3.0%, respectively, increasing by 2.7 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points compared to two years ago.

Among household heads aged 19 and older, 13.7% responded that their actual income was sufficient compared to the household's average minimum monthly living expenses, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from two years ago. Those who said their household income increased compared to the previous year were 21.3%, those who said it remained the same were 59.9%, and those who said it decreased were 18.9%.

The most important factors when choosing a job were income (40.9%), stability (22.1%), and aptitude/interest (13.9%) in that order. Among respondents aged 13 to 34, the most desired workplace was a large company at 27.4%.

The overall job satisfaction of wage workers was 35.1%, a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to two years ago.

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