High-income households increase spending on private tutoring

By Yi Whan-woo

High-income households are increasing spending on “hagwon,” or private tuition schools, data showed on Wednesday, amid controversy over the difficulty level of college entrance exams and students' subsequent reliance on private tutoring.

Citing data on credit card spending, Shinhan Card said its customers in the top 20 percent income bracket spent 29 percent more on private education services in the second quarter of the year compared to 2019.

During the cited period, credit card payments for private education services climbed 20.3 percent for customers in the income bracket between the top 20 percent and 40 percent, 19.3 percent for those between the top 40 percent and 60 percent, and 15.8 percent for those in the bottom fifth income level.

“The data shows that the more a household earns, the more it increased spending on private tutoring,” Shinhan Card said.

It said the steeper increase in spending for extra-curricular private education services was especially noticeable among the wealthy who can afford to send their children to expensive academies for lessons, such as English conversation classes.