A cafe in eastern Seoul is empty on Jan. 5, 2021, with government restrictions banning dining in due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Last year, owner-operated businesses without any employees struggled in the third quarter, more so than in the first year of the pandemic era.
Among all households across the country with more than one member, those with owner-operated businesses without any employees earned an average of 2,701,958 won (US$2,252) each month during last year’s third quarter, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
This was 0.5 percent less than the income earned during the third quarter in 2020 (2,715,224 won).
In contrast, owner-operated businesses with employees saw their income rise by 2 percent on year. The average income of all households, too, jumped by 3.7 percent from the previous year.
As quarantine measures continue to stay in effect due to the pandemic, small businesses without any employees seem to have taken a major hit.
Single-person businesses, in particular, showed that monthly expenditures (2,901,860 won) exceeded monthly income, indicating a failure to sustain livelihood.
“State finance isn’t something we can spend indefinitely, and we have to decide who we will support. This data shows that we have to focus on single-person businesses,” said economics professor Sung Tae-yoon of Yonsei University.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
