hankyoreh

Nearly half of South Korean households with one young person living alone are spending more than 20% of income on rent and other housing costs, while over one in ten live in an environment that does not mean minimum residential standards, a study shows.
The situation for young people was cited as a factor in the number of so-called “kangaroos,” “salmon,” and “scrums” who continue living with their parents even after graduating university or marrying.
A study titled “Policy Ideas for Customized Residential Support to Alleviate Youth poverty” published on Feb. 16 by the team of Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) researcher Lee Tae-jin showed 47.03% of households consisting of a single person aged 19 to 34 as of 2014 falling into the “excessive rent burden” category, with rental costs constituting 20% or more of income. The percentage was slightly higher than the 46.73% rate for all households.

Housing situation for young people living alone. Data: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs 2014 Welfare Needs Survey

The rate of single young person households living in environments that do not meet the government‘s own minimum residential standards was also found to be 14.17%, a higher level than the 13.88% for all households.

“In addition to suggesting that the residential ladder from monthly rents to key deposits and home ownership has collapsed, this situation for young people shows that their difficulties are being passed along to their parents,” the report said.

Indeed, the report said parents were covering rent for 49.4% of single young person households and 80% of university student households.

The report went on to cite this as a factor in the emergence in South Korea of so-called “salmon” and “scrums” in addition to the existing “kangaroos,” or children who continue living with and depending economically on their parents even after completing their school. The term salmon refers to those who become temporarily independent from their parents but eventually return home, while scrums are adults who live with their parents for economic reasons even after marriage.

According to the report, the problem is not confined to South Korea.

“In the US, they have coined the terms ’twixter‘ and ’ILYA‘ to refer to people who cannot get a job or home in their late twenties, while in Canada they use the term ’boomerang kids‘ to refer to children who return to their parents after being unable to find stable work, and in Britain they use the term ’Kippers‘ to refer to children who live off their parent’s pension money,” the report noted. “These coinages all refer to a similar class of young people.”

Lee said the findings “show that single young person households and young people from low-income households are a priority target for housing assistance.”

“We need to consider introducing a family allowance or residential allowance to provide young people with residential support,” Lee suggested.

By Lee Chang-gon, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]