Figure is highest since 2003
The number of South Korean households whose head has no regular job has reached the highest level since 2003, when the nation started to record related statistics. Experts cite that the high figure is because more people that had been searching for jobs amid the current sluggish economy have given up. According to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on February 11, the number of households nationwide whose head is unemployed increased to 14.57 percent of the total, a 0.55 percentage-point rise from last year, meaning that the head of one out of seven households is out of work. The figure has shown a steady upward trend since 2005 after slightly falling to 13.40 percent in 2004 from 13.43 percent the previous year. The average number of members of these households was 2.7 and the average age of the head was 59.04. These households used 1.53 million won (US$1,640) every month on general expenditures and 202,000 won on taxes and pension and insurance payments. Remittances, both public and private, accounted for 49.4 percent of the income of these households, followed by earned income at 23.6 percent. Irregular income stood at an average of 13.2 percent and property income at 11.1 percent. On the contrary, in the case of households whose head is employed, earned income accounted for 86.1 percent of the total income, while remittances accounted for 4.1 percent.Sin Min-yeong, a researcher at the LG Economic Research Institute, said that "poor business in the construction field has had a bad impact on employment, and the relatively old average age of unemployed household heads represents the fact that the labor market for the aged is not good." Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
