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By Lee Kyung-min
Positive views about upward social mobility in Korea are decreasing, amid widening income and consumption disparities in the face of social polarization, data showed Monday.
In Statistics Korea's biennial study of 34,147 men and women aged 19 and older, only 28.9 percent of respondents said their children's generation would have a high chance of social mobility.
The figure has been on a continued decline since 2009 when it hit 48.3 percent. It stood at 41.4 percent in 2011, 39.6 percent in 2013, 30 percent in 2015 and 29.5 percent in 2017.
The survey was conducted between May 15 and 30 on whether they feel they have a high chance of reaching a higher socio-economic status in their lifetime if they work hard enough.
The respondents held a more pessimistic view when asked whether their generation has high social mobility, with only 22.7 percent agreeing.
While the figure remained the same for the third consecutive study, it had been on a decline from 37.6 percent in 2009. The figure was 32.2 in 2011 and 31.2 in 2013.
More people feel that inequality could widen in the coming years, according to Kim So-young, an economist at Seoul National University.
"I am afraid to say that people see limited opportunities for success," he said.
The pessimism in his view is fueled by the economic downturn as more people think they will likely not be better off than they are now, and are losing hope.
"They seem to think that current hardship are not likely to take a drastic turn for the better any time soon. The widening education divide inferred from the increasing number of students from wealthier backgrounds being admitted to a greater number of good universities could be another factor," he said.
The comment came as people with property, mostly multiple homes, have seen their asset values skyrocket over the past few years.
"They have more money to give to their children who have a multiple-step head start that could not be easily overcome only by working hard," he said.
The comment also comes amid polarized consumption between those with boosted purchasing power and those with diminished purchasing power.
October data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed high-priced designer brand sales at local department stores in the first seven months of 2019 increased 17.2 percent from a year earlier, the highest jump since 2012.
This is in contrast to the retail business survey index (RBSI) that hit a five-year low at 81 in the July-September period, down 13 points from the second quarter.
The index for retailers ― long considered the shopping venue for the country's lower and middle classes ― was part of a quarterly business survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Meanwhile, according to a 2018 OECD report titled "A Broken Social Elevator? How to Promote Social Mobility," Korea alongside Japan had only around-average earnings mobility.
The report said a Korean child born into a family in the bottom 10 percent of income distribution would need an estimated five generations to earn the average income.
This is contrasted with Denmark where it needed two, followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden (three).
It took four in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Spain and Japan. It took seven in China and India and nine in Brazil and South Africa.
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