This photo, taken June 21, 2023, shows students at a district with many cram schools in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) — High-income families with children attending middle or high school spend as much money on private education as they do on food and housing, data showed Sunday.
Based on data from Statistics Korea, households in the top 20 percent of income brackets spend an average of 1,002,000 won (US$766) per month on academies for students aged 13 to 18.
When households without children enrolled in private education are excluded, the average monthly spending on academies increases to 1,143,000 won.
This represents 17.5 percent of the total monthly expenditure for households with teenage children in the top 20 percent of income brackets.
This amount is equivalent to the combined spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages (636,000 won) as well as housing, water, and energy costs (539,000 won).
Additionally, other households with high expenses on clothing, food, and housing also allocate a significant portion of their budget to private education.
Even households in the lowest 10 percent of income brackets, which have limited financial resources, spend 482,000 won per month on academies, surpassing their expenditure on food, non-alcoholic beverages, and housing.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
