20-somethings' real income growth slowest amid irregular job increases, surging food costs

Students browse a job posting board on a university campus in downtown Seoul, Sept. 10. Yonhap

Park So-yun, a 28-year-old bookkeeper, says she struggles to make ends meet as her salary fails to keep pace with the rising costs of essentials such as groceries, rent and other living expenses.

She says she often relies on her parents, who are in their 50s and have a higher real income — income adjusted for inflation — than she does.

“Even after cutting costs as much as possible, everything is more expensive, and my paycheck barely keeps up, forcing me to ask my parents for financial support,” Park said.

Her case highlights the deteriorating real income conditions among people in their 20s, who, despite being employed, are financially worse off than older generations.

According to the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Monday, those in their 20s have experienced the lowest real income growth of any age group over the past decade.

The annual real income growth rate for 20-somethings averaged just 1.9 percent in the FKI’s analysis of generational income trends from 2014 to 2024.

The real income growth was 2.1 percent for people in their 40s, 2.2 percent for those in their 50s, 3.1 percent for those in their 30s, and 5.2 percent for people aged 60 and over.

Even more concerning is the downward trend.

From 2014 to 2019, real income for people in their 20s grew at an annual rate of 2.6 percent. In the five years that followed, that rate then fell to 1.1 percent.

The FKI analyzed that the sluggish real income growth rate among people in their 20s stems from the decline in the quality of youth employment and the rise in perceived inflation.

Over the past decade, the youth unemployment rate dropped from 9 percent to 5.8 percent, and their employment rate rose from 57.4 percent to 61 percent.

“But these gains hide a more uncomfortable truth: while more young people have jobs, many of those jobs are lower in quality,” the FKI said.

The business lobby pointed out that the share of irregular workers in their 20s rose from 32 percent to 43.1 percent over the corresponding 10 years.

“These positions typically offer less job security, fewer benefits and significantly lower pay,” it said.

In addition, the rising cost of everyday life is adding to financial pressure, especially in areas where young people spend the most.

Dining out, for instance, has become noticeably more expensive.

Driven largely by restaurant prices, the cost of dining out and accommodation increased by 4 percent annually from 2019 to 2024.

This was the second-fastest-rising expense category, after groceries and nonalcoholic beverages, which rose by 5.1 percent annually.

The FKI emphasized the need for targeted policy interventions to reverse this trend.

It called for labor market reforms aimed at improving the quality of employment opportunities for young people, including expanded job training programs and incentives for businesses to create stable and well-paying roles. "It is important to stabilize dining and other living costs through measures like import tariff reductions and [an] overhaul of [the] food supply chain," the FKI said.