Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Over 4 in 10 young people say success unattainable without parents' support: poll
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By Jung Min-ho
More than four out of 10 young people believe that success is unattainable without support from their parents, according to a poll released on Sunday.
The survey, conducted by the National Youth Policy Institute, a state-funded research center, shows that 42.7 percent of 1,938 respondents aged between 18 and 34 said they think hard work would not necessarily lead to success if there is no support from their parents.
Only 23 percent said success is attainable even without parental support, while 34.4 percent said they were neutral on the issue.
Such pessimism is deeper among older respondents as 44.7 percent of those aged between 30 and 34 agreed with the view, compared with 42.9 percent among those aged between 25 and 29 as well as 40.3 percent among 24-year-olds or younger.
Asked whether parents should provide financial or other forms of support for their children, 35.2 percent said they should, compared with 21.6 percent who said it is not necessary.
When asked whether their social attainment is largely attributable to their parents’ support, nearly 55 percent agreed. But 52.4 percent said individual efforts are more important than such help when it comes to success, with only 15 percent disagreeing.
“The results suggest that young people value hard work (to a certain extent), but they think it may not be enough to achieve success in our society,” the researchers said.