This file photo, taken July 3, 2021, shows people crossing a street near Hongik University in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Debt among the “MZ generation,” a Korean term referring to those aged between late 10s and 30s, widened at a faster rate than income compared with 20 years ago, a central bank report showed Tuesday.
The “MZ generation” refers to a pairing of two groups — millennials born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, and Generation Z, those born between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
According to the report by the Bank of Korea, income among the MZ generation as of 2018 was 1.4 times higher than the same age group as of 2000.
Meanwhile, income among Generation X — those born between 1965 and 1979 — as of 2018 was 1.5 times higher than the same age group as of 2000, the report said.
Income among the baby-boom generation — those born between 1955 and 1964 — as of 2018 was 1.6 times higher than the same age group as of 2000.
However, the combined debt among the MZ generation as of 2018 was 4.3 times higher than the same age group as of 2000.
Corresponding figures for Generation X and the baby-boom generation were 2.4 times and 1.8 times higher, respectively.
Growth of financial assets of the MZ generation also slowed down between 2001 and 2018.
“It was not easy to secure seed money to accumulate financial assets due to various issues, such as the unemployment crisis,” Choi Young-joon, a BOK researcher, said.
The growth of debt was largely due to increased loans to purchase houses, the report said.
In 2018, 34.4 percent of the MZ generation took out loans from banks, compared with 32.1 percent of Generation X and 19.6 percent of the baby-boom generation, according to the report.
(Yonhap)
