[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] It has been revealed that income polarization among residents of Sejong City is intensifying. For the first time since the launch of Sejong City, the proportion of the lowest income group in the region has increased, while the proportion of high-income groups has also risen. The income gap between the eup/myeon areas and the new town is also prominent.
According to the '2019 Social Indicators of Sejong' published by the city earlier this month, the proportion of households with a monthly average income below 1 million KRW, the lowest income group, was 13.3% last year, up 2.4 percentage points from 10.9% the previous year.
The proportion of the lowest income group, which was 23.5% in 2014, decreased annually to 21.6% in 2015, 18.9% in 2016, 18.2% in 2017, and 10.9% in 2018, but increased for the first time last year.
The top income group with a monthly average income of over 7 million KRW has been increasing every year from 2.6% in 2014 to 3.3% in 2015, 8.4% in 2016, 7.9% in 2017, 10.1% in 2018, and 11.8% last year. The proportion of the highest income group has increased nearly fivefold in five years.
Last year, the most common monthly average household income was between 3 million and 4 million KRW at 17.7%, followed by 4 million to 5 million KRW (16.7%) and 2 million to 3 million KRW (13.5%).
The income gap between eup/myeon areas and the new town was also found to be severe.
As of 2018, the proportion of the lowest income group in the dong area (new town) was only 4.1%, whereas in Jochiwon-eup and myeon areas, it was 30.3% and 30.7%, respectively, accounting for nearly one-third of the total.
On the other hand, the proportion of the highest income group was 4.4% and 2.7% in Jochiwon-eup and myeon areas, respectively, but in the dong area, it reached 16.2%, more than four times higher.
Last year, among the 268,000 people aged 15 and over in the city, the economically active population was 172,000, with an economic activity participation rate of 64.3%.
The unemployment rate was 2.7%, up 0.4 percentage points from 2.3% the previous year.
The employment rate of high school graduates was 3.8%, down 0.9 percentage points from 4.7% the previous year. The employment rate of high school graduates had been increasing from 14.5% in 2013, 17.8% in 2014, and 19.1% in 2015, but dropped to 8.8% in 2016, less than half, and has been declining annually since then.
In contrast, the employment rate of graduates from local junior colleges and universities surged by 12.2 percentage points from the previous year to 64.7%. The employment rate of junior college and university graduates has been increasing annually from 38.8% in 2015, 43.8% in 2016, 47.3% in 2017, to 52.5% in 2018.
As of last year, 58 central administrative and public institutions had relocated to Sejong City, employing 17,783 workers.
The city annually compiles and publishes social indicators consisting of 239 items across 13 sectors, including population/households, family/income, based on regional social survey results and administrative data from various statistical agencies.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
