Has South Korea Become Trapped by "Parental Background"? ... "Can Someone Like Me from a Poor Family Ever Become Rich?"

Is Parents' Background the Deciding Factor?
68% Say "The Social Ladder Is Invisible"
Survey of 3,000 Adults... Only 25.4% Say Mobility Is "Active"
42.5% Positive About the Potential of Individual Effort

A significant portion of the public in Korean society perceives that the so-called "social ladder" is not functioning smoothly. Only about 1 in 4 adults believes that social mobility is active.

Yonhap News reported this on the 8th, citing the study "Diagnosis of Social Mobility in Korea and Directions for Social Policy Reform" published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

The research team surveyed 3,000 men and women aged 19 or older nationwide on their perceptions of social mobility from May 18 to June 20 last year. Social mobility refers to the phenomenon in which individuals or groups move between different social statuses or classes.

A survey found that Koreans perceive social mobility as not working smoothly. Pixabay

As a result of the survey, only 25.4% responded that social mobility is "active." Those who answered "average" accounted for 59.2%, and those who said it is "not active" accounted for 15.4%. The share of respondents who judged that mobility is functioning sufficiently was only about one-quarter.

The most frequently cited reason for viewing class mobility as difficult was that "parents' economic power and social background influence success," at 43.4%. The research team analyzed, "It appears that recent phenomena in our society, such as the intergenerational transfer of wealth and the polarization of assets, are having a negative impact on perceptions of social mobility."

This was followed by responses that "good jobs and poor jobs are divided within the labor market" (17.3%), "one's place of origin or current place of residence influences success" (13.6%), and "social networks influence success" (10.6%).

However, expectations regarding individual effort still remained. In response to a question about the likelihood of improving one's socioeconomic status through personal effort, 42.5% answered that it is "high," and 50.7% said it is "average." Only 6.8% responded that it is "low." The research team explained, "Although social mobility in our society is not very active, many citizens hold a positive view that socioeconomic status can change depending on the extent of individual effort."

However, 68.0% of all respondents answered that socioeconomic support from parents' generation affects their children's socioeconomic status. Only 0.7% said it does not have an impact. In other words, expectations about the power of individual effort and awareness of structural constraints coexist.