Among high school students, 15 percent had worked at a part-time job, compared to only 1.8 percent of middle school students. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent study has revealed that 9 percent of middle and high school students in South Korea had worked at a part-time job.
Most had worked at restaurants or wedding halls.
The average hourly pay was 7,785 won (US$6.69), rising over the past few years, while fewer middle and high school students now worked part-time.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Statistics Korea, 9 percent of middle and high school students said they worked at a part-time job last year, which was 2.3 percent lower than in 2016 (11.3 percent).
Female students were more likely to have had a part-time job (9.4 percent) compared to male students (8.7 percent).
Among high school students, 15 percent had worked at a part-time job, compared to only 1.8 percent of middle school students.
On average, students worked 2.7 days per week for 6.2 hours each day. The average hourly pay at 7,785 won was up 18.4 percent since 2016. The rise in hourly pay accelerated after the minimum wage was set to 7,530 won last year.
Average days or hours of work have slightly dropped.
Students reported working primarily at restaurants (45.9 percent), followed by buffet restaurants and wedding halls (14.1 percent), leaflet distributors (7.8 percent), fast food vendors (6.5 percent), and convenience stores (6.2 percent).
Last year’s employment rate for the age group between 15 and 24 was 26.2 percent, 1 percentage point lower than the previous year.
The unemployment rate for the same age group was 10.5 percent, rising by 0.2 percentage points.
In contrast, the employment rate among those between 25 and 29 was 70.2 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the previous year, while the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent, falling by 0.7 percentage points.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
