In this file photo, job seekers look at employment information at a job fair in Suwon, south of Seoul, on June 9, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The Economic Misery Index showed that the employment crisis and rapidly increasing consumer prices are being felt most closely by young South Koreans.
The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) estimated the Economic Misery Index by combining the unemployment rate from all age groups with the increase rate of consumer prices, which showed that young South Koreans between the ages of 15 and 29 had the highest score of 25.1 points for the first half of this year.
These results are largely attributed to this year’s massive hike in consumer prices. The increase rate of consumer prices felt by young South Koreans in the early part of this year was 5.2 percent, close to 10 times higher than in 2019.
Young South Koreans were more sensitive to consumer prices than other age groups largely because of the price increases in sectors where their spending was highly concentrated, including restaurants and accommodations (21.6 percent), transportation (12 percent), and food (8.5 percent).
The stagnating job market has exacerbated the economic difficulties faced by young South Koreans.
The FKI raised concerns for deteriorating financial health among young South Koreans as loan interest continues to increase along with rising interest rates.
The increase rate of debt among South Koreans under the age of 29 reached 48.3 percent over the last four years, two times higher than the national average.
The increase rate of principal and interest repayment among them was 34.9 percent, which was 1.5 times the national average.
The proportion of debt against assets among young South Koreans rose from 24.2 percent in 2017 to 32.5 percent in 2020, the highest among all age groups.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
