Rising debt weighs heavily on Seoulites

By Choi Sung-jin

The share of Seoul citizens saddled with debt is approaching 50 percent, and the rise is due to difficulties getting homes, a survey showed Tuesday.

Particularly, eight out of 10 citizens aged 30 or younger said they have housing-related debt, according to the 2016 Seoul survey conducted to grasp their quality of living, social trust, life satisfaction and other factors.

According to the survey, 48.4 percent of Seoulites said they have debts. The share of indebted households in the capital city has gradually risen from 45 percent in 2010 to 47.9 percent in 2013. The biggest reason for household debt was housing cost, with 66 percent. Those under 30 showed a particularly high housing-related debt ratio of 76.7 percent.

The share of households with their own homes stands at 41.1 percent, down from 44.6 percent in 2005. Those who live in “jeonse” -- homes rented by paying lump-sum deposits between 50 and 80 percent of housing prices -- dropped from 33.2 percent to 32.9 percent over the period while those living in leased homes paying monthly rent rose sharply, from 20.4 percent to 26 percent.

Among citizens under 30, 88 percent are living in jeonse or “wolse” (monthly rent) houses while 61 percent of Seoulites over 50 have their own homes.

The share of people who saw a high possibility of class mobility fell from 35.3 percent in 2013 to 30.2 percent in 2014. The portion of respondents who said their class mobility was high reached 34 percent among teenagers, and remained in the 32 percent range for other age groups -- 32.7 percent for people in their 20s and 60s, 32.1 percent for those in their 30s and 32.0 percent for those in their 40s and 50s.

The figures show younger generations are having more difficulty living in Seoul than older ones. Asked whether they experienced stress in the past two weeks, 58.2 percent of those in their 20s said “yes,” followed by teens (56 percent), 30s (55 percent), 40s (55 percent), 50s (52.7 percent) and 60s or older (49.2 percent).

The citizens of Seoul said Korean society is not fair in general. Especially, they cited minority rights, taxation, job opportunities and income as the most unfair elements, giving less than 4.5 points out of six. As the mostly likely factors of social discrimination, they pointed to income (50.7 percent), followed by education (44 percent), profession (38.8 percent), appearance (19.6 percent), age (15.6 percent) and gender (13.5 percent).

The survey also reaffirmed the fragmentation of the nation’s largest city.

Almost four out of 10 citizens (39.2 percent) said they have no one to turn to when they need financial help. One in four (25.4 percent) said they have no one to rely on when they feel discouraged or depressed and one in five (20.4 percent) said they had no one to lean on when they are ill.

The citizens’ trust in their family was relatively high, giving 8.83 points out of 10, but trust in neighbors and public organizations was low, remaining in the five-point range.

Seven out of 10 (68.5 percent) were born in Seoul. The younger the citizens are, the higher their percentage of being born and raised in the capital city. Six to seven out of 10 people felt Seoul was their home city.

The first Seoul survey was conducted in 2013. For the latest one, the 13th, pollsters last October visited 20,000 households meeting 46,837 citizens and 2,500 foreigners living in the capital.