Most Koreans see poverty as matter of discipline, not predetermined

Older adults line up for a free meal service in Daegu's Duryu Park, Dec. 9, 2025. Newsis

Public attitudes in Korea toward poverty remain sharply divided, with a majority of respondents attributing hardship to a lack of individual effort, while low-income families point instead to structural barriers that keep them at the margins, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The 2025 Korean Welfare Panel Study, conducted jointly by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and the Seoul National University Social Welfare Research Institute, found that 89.6 percent of 2,661 respondents cited insufficient motivation and effort as the main cause of poverty.

Nearly nine out of 10 respondents, or 88.3 percent, pointed to a lack of frugality or poor household financial management, suggesting that for a majority of Koreans, economic hardship is still seen largely as a matter of personal responsibility and discipline.

Because the survey allowed participants to weigh multiple contributing factors independently, the total percentages exceed 100 percent.

In contrast, only 62.8 percent blamed inborn ability or talent, and just 12 percent viewed it as a “very important” factor, indicating that poverty is rarely regarded as unchangeable or predetermined.

The perception gap widened when broken down by income level. Among middle- and high-income households, 90.2 percent said personal effort was central in determining poverty, compared with 85.5 percent of low-income households.

The share who said effort is “very important” dropped from 37.8 percent in the general group to 27.9 percent among low-income respondents, while those who saw a lack of frugality as a very important cause also fell from 40.0 percent to 30.3 percent.

Experts warn that this heavy emphasis on individual responsibility can serve as a secondary form of punishment for those already struggling.

Labeling poverty primarily as the result of laziness or weak will risks isolating low-income Koreans, undermining their self-worth and weakening social cohesion, they noted.

To meaningfully tackle poverty, they added, personal initiative must be supported by stronger safety nets and structural reforms so that individual efforts are not hindered by barriers beyond people’s control.