(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Almost half of young South Korean adults who age out from orphanages are facing extreme difficulties, with some even committing suicide, a government report said Monday.
The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs reported that 50 percent of 3,104 orphans being discharged from facilities have thought about committing suicide.
This is three times higher than the 16.3 percent average among all South Korean youth between the ages of 19 and 29 in 2018.
In the first year following their discharge, 43.5 percent had thought about committing suicide, which spiked to 56.4 percent in the third year, before dipping to 48.9 percent in the fifth year.
One third of the respondents blamed financial reasons for thinking about suicide.
The study showed that 24.3 percent of all discharged orphans are in debt, owing an average of around 6 million won.
Statistics showed that only 15.5 percent entered college in 2020.
As for the reason for not going to college, 52.1 percent wanted to get a job and earn money, while 15.7 percent said they couldn’t afford to go to college.
The unemployment rate among discharged orphans stood at 16.3 percent, which was double the average 8.9 percent of the country’s youth unemployment in 2019.
Discharged orphans have been neglected in the blind spot of the support system provided by authorities, with 23.1 percent completely disappearing from the radar in 2020.
“Discharged orphans going out of contact generates blind spots,” the report said. “Most of them, particularly those that are hard contact, are unemployed, and don’t have the will to work.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
