Sixty pct of S.Koreans see their children poorer than parents

Six out of 10 South Koreans believe their children will be financially worse off than their parents, marking the highest number for the country since the relevant studies began in 2013.

A poll of 1,006 South Koreans aged 18 and above showed that 60% of respondents think their next generation will be poorer than themselves, up from 53% in 2019, according to the Pew Research Center. The poll was conducted between Mar. 13 and Apr. 29 of this year as part of the research firm's global survey. 

Among the 13 advanced countries on the list, South Korea posted the third-largest percentage point increase in the number of people who are pessimistic about their next generation's financial future. Italy reported the sharpest increase of 11 percentage points to 72%. The US and Germany shared second place with the gain of 8 percentage points to 68% and 50%, respectively. 

In comparison, 34 of the South Koreans answered their children will be better off when they grow up.

Despite the pessimistic views about their children's financial future, a bigger number of South Koreans show positive assessments of the current economic condition at 28% of the respondents. That is higher than 16% in 2020. But the number is still lower than other developed countries' such as Sweden at 86% and Australia at 74%.

The survey also finds that people who say their government mishandled the coronavirus crisis are more likely to say that the current economic situation is bad and that children will be worse off financially than their parents.

Write to Se-min Huh at semin@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.