Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Over 70% of workers negatively assess gov't youth policies
Jobseekers attend a job fair at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 7. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
Youth policies enacted by the Moon Jae-in administration seem to have fallen short of meeting public expectations, according to survey results released Monday.
In the survey conducted in December on 1,000 workers aged between 20 and 60 by Gapjil 119, a pro-labor civic group, and the Public Workers Solidarity Foundation, 73.7 percent gave negative assessments about the government's youth policies and its achievements, outnumbering those who gave positive evaluations by three to one.
Hopes that youth-related issues would improve under new leadership were also low, as 61 percent replied that they were not positive about youth policies to be introduced by the new government which would be installed in May, regardless of the political inclination of the next administration.
When asked about the future prospects of the country's job market for young people, 53.5 percent said the situation would worsen, while 36.7 percent said things are likely to stay the same. Only 9.8 percent said the situation would improve.
“I don't think the current government has introduced any effective youth support measures in the past five years,” said Kim So-hyun, a 29-year-old office worker living in Gyeonggi Province.
“Employment and housing issues, which are the biggest concerns of young people, have worsened. Buying a decent home in the capital area has become virtually impossible with my salary.”
The survey also found that 75 percent of the respondents believed the older generation is not offering equal opportunities to young people. The view was widely shared especially among people in their 20s and 30s, with 80 percent and 85 percent agreeing to it, respectively.
An office worker in his 20s surnamed Joo said, “As inequality issues are dealt with by policymakers who belong to the older generation and the privileged, the government seems to be failing to come up with policies that can actually benefit the younger generations. I hope the new administration will do a better job of listening to the voices of young people and reflect their needs.”
Meanwhile, the survey respondents viewed that a job paying an average annual salary of 45.2 million won ($37,900) could be regarded as a decent job.
More specifically, women, people in their 20s and irregular workers said a decent annual salary is around 30 million won, whereas men, people in their 40s and those working in a regular position said it is over 50 million won.
“Due to the deepening polarization in the labor market, the underprivileged in the workplace ― such as women, 20-somethings, irregular employees and low-wage workers ― think that even an annual salary of 30 million won would be considered decent,” said an official at Gapjil 119.